Goshen Town Council last week held a celebration to mark the 100th birthday of one of the town’s residents, Marie Canady.
During the event at the Goshen Town Office, Mayor Tom McCraw read a letter from Sen. Mark Warner congratulating her on her birthday.
Canady was born in Covington on Nov. 16, 1924, to John and Ottie Knick of Kerrs Creek. She was one of 12 children, with six sisters and five brothers. She received her early education at the Alone Mill Grad School and the Highland Bell Grade School, then attended Old Rockbridge High School, Fairfield High School and Goshen High School. She was set to graduate from Goshen High School, but had to drop out of school when her mother had a nervous breakdown following her father’s death in 1943. She received an honorary diploma from Rockbridge County High School in June 2021.
She married Henry Wyatt Canady on Dec. 19, 1944, and followed him to several posts during his military career, including overseas posts in Germany, France and Iran. While in Tehran, Iran, she was hired by the Iran American Society to teach English, a position she held for two years. She was an avid bowler and started bowling leagues in both France and Iran during her time there.
In 1998 she and her husband returned to Goshen, where she worked to establish the town’s World War II memorial. She has also published two genealogy books tracing her family’s history, as well as one on Goshen’s World War II veterans.
“You have made a tremendous impact on the lives of your family and friends,” Senator Warner wrote in his letter. “They are fortunate to have benefited from your wisdom and have made so many special memories with you over the years. I join them in celebrating you today.”
Warner also thanked Canady for her “unwavering commitment to the United States” as a military spouse and for her efforts in memorializing Goshen’s World War II veterans.
“Congratulations on this milestone and Happy Birthday,” Warner concluded.
AT AGE 99, Ottie Canady cast her vote in the 2024 election.
THIS PHOTO of Ottie Canady, then Ottie Kick, was taken during her high school years.
