Allen Park Mayor Gail McLeod (front left) congratulates centenarian Rose Loyd, who is accompanied by her grandson, City Councilmember Dan Loyd, during the April 22 council meeting.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
ALLEN PARK – Centenarian Rose Loyd, a retired teacher and grandmother of City Councilmember Dan Loyd, was honored by the mayor and council during the April 22 council meeting.
Loyd, who was born April 25, 1925, in Prata D’Ansidonia, Italy, immigrated with her family to the United States when she was 12 years old.
She learned to speak English while attending school, and graduated from River Rouge High School. During her senior year in high school, with World War II waging, she worked afternoons at Rouge Steel to support the war effort.
Loyd attended Wayne State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in early education and a master’s degree in special education.
She began her teaching career in 1948 in Detroit, where she instilled in her students the importance of civic engagement and democracy by assigning them to write letters to elected officials.
As a teacher, Loyd inspired her son, a granddaughter and a grandson to enter the profession as well.