Singing centennial

It was a bittersweet Monday for Newport Beach resident Yvonne Nelson and her husband, David Nelson — the older brother on the 1950s television show “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” — as the couple celebrated the 100th birthday of Yvonne’s mother, Mabel O’Connor.

The Nelsons, along with other family and friends, gathered at the Newport Beach nursing home where Mabel moved a few weeks ago after a stroke and a broken hip made her needs too substantial for her daughter to handle.

“It was very difficult to put her here, but I just couldn’t care for her anymore,” Yvonne said.

Aside from her recent ailments, though, Mabel has been healthy for a long time, and Yvonne relished being able to celebrate her mother’s centennial.

“I’m thrilled,” she said.

In a recreation room decorated with colorful balloons, a gray-haired pianist with a straw boater hat serenaded the group with old-time rags and lyrics that hearkened back to the past.

Through song, he recounted the decades of Mabel’s life, starting with the turn of the century — with its conservative apparel and temperate social scene — and continuing through the years as skirts shortened and dance trends became more risque.

“When you were 12 years old, women got the right to vote. We’ve come a long way since then,” the entertainer sang.

O’Connor grew up on a farm in Nova Scotia with 16 brothers and sisters before settling in California.

She laughed at some of the lyrics of the songs, listened as her family sang happy birthday to her and blew out the candles atop one of the two large birthday cakes.

“She’s been really fun over the years,” David said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].