Mary Honan is as tired of being cooped up as everyone else is, perhaps more so given that Wednesday was her 95th birthday and she’s living in the house in Falmouth where she grew up.

So it was a nice surprise when she went outside her home on Foreside Road on Wednesday afternoon expecting a few family members to drive by to mark her birthday and was instead greeted by procession of town fire trucks, ambulances and police cruisers, not to mention the 20 or so vehicles filled with family members and friends who brought her cards and gifts.

Mary Honan poses for photos during the procession honoring her 95th birthday on Wednesday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

The emergency vehicles activated their sirens, lights and horns for her, and a police cruiser blared a rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song.

Honan, who completed her last real estate deal at the age of 89, is known locally to most everyone as Mary T. Her father once served as Falmouth’s police chief. She was born and raised in the same home that the birthday parade passed by.

“We had a fire in her neighborhood a few years ago and Mary came out to give the firefighters coffee,” Falmouth Fire Chief Howard Rice said. “We thought it would be good to drive by and thank her.”

Nellie Honan of Portland said her grandmother was not expecting such a grand celebration to mark her birthday.

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“She was so appreciative,” Nellie Honan said. “She told me, I can’t believe this happened.”

Honan said her grandmother, who has a full-time live-in caretaker, is a very sociable person. Having to stay at home and not being able to see very many people during the coronavirus pandemic has been hard for her. The parade was just the thing her grandmother needed to brighten her special day.

“It was pretty uplifting,” Honan said. “It was such an amazing event. It was almost like we were at a real birthday party, but not quite.”

Rice, the fire chief, said Wednesday’s birthday parade was not the first the town has participated in during the COVID-19 pandemic. Town police and fire staff have participated in four or five birthday celebrations over the past two weeks.

“It’s just something we can do to lift everyone’s spirits,” he said.


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