Sunday, June 26, 2011 5:55 am

Mary Dee Ready Cates, of the Cripple Creek Community, celebrated her 98th birthday in May, 2011, at the Porterfield home on Northcutt Road where she was born and raised.

She was hosted by her nephew and family, David, Ashley, and Benjamin Cates, who now occupy her family's ancestral home, the original section built by her grandparents, Mary Annis Alexander and Christopher Columbus Ready, about 1870.

 It is located on land first occupied by her great-grandfather, Abner Alexander, in the 1840s.

The home and farm were expanded and improved during the lifetime of her parents, I.E. and Nancy Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bragg Ready. Mrs. Cates went to live in her current home on Cripple Creek in 1935 when she married Joe V. Cates, Jr., who died in 1987.
 
Mrs. Cates is shown with her three great -grandsons, Joseph Jakes, Benjamin Cates, and Bryan Jakes.  Also attending the day of celebration were Ben and Juana Cates, Shannon C. Jakes, Steve Cates, and Sammy and Beth Lamons.