Two local women doubled their fun with a joint celebration
marking their 80th birthdays Sunday afternoon.

This isn’t the first time Theda Ione Miller of Bradford and
Cleda Leone Dudley of Port Allegany have celebrated their birthdays
together, however. They’re fraternal twins.

The duo, along with friends and family, rang in their 80th year
with a luncheon party at The Lighthouse restaurant in Bradford.

Miller and Dudley were born Oct. 10, 1925, twin daughters of
Edward and Florance Barrett Hovey of Bradford, according to
Dudley’s daughter, Alvera Stuckey of Smethport.

“At the old Bradford Hospital,” Dudley said.

“It’s not there anymore,” Miller added.

The pair said they have always lived close to one another –
never outside McKean County -ðand have always kept in close
contact. When asked if they have always been close, Miller answered
“Oh, yes;” and Dudley, “Definitely.”

Having just had their picture taken, Dudley commented to her
sister that she was “on the wrong side.”

“In all our baby pictures,” she explained, “I’m on the
left.”

The sisters said because they are not identical, they never made
mischief by pretending to be the other one, or switching
places.

“I didn’t. Did you?” Dudley asked Miller jokingly.

“No, no,” Miller answered, shaking her head.

It doesn’t take long to figure out Dudley is the playful one –
the joker. And Miller, a bit more quiet and reserved.

“I’m the crafty one and she’s the sensible one,” Dudley said of
herself and her twin.

“She (Dudley) is the talker, and Aunt Theda’s the quiet one,”
Stuckey chimed in.

The pair has experienced some unexplainable twin phenomenon,
however. They usually know what the other is about to say, and
sometimes finish each other’s sentences, they said. Also, they have
a habit of each doing something the same day without ever telling
the other.

For example, they both got their eyeglasses on the same day and
didn’t tell each other only to find out when they saw each other
again that both now had new glasses.

“We do that a lot,” Dudley said.

And once, when Miller was vacationing in Florida, an accident
left her with eight staples to her head, she said. Dudley said she
just sensed something was wrong with her sister, but had no way to
contact her on the road.

When Miller got home, Dudley realized just why she was so
worried. She was right. Something had been wrong with her
sister.

The sisters agreed that over their 80 years, they have seen
“many buildings go down, and highways go up.” They saw both the
Fifth and Sixth Ward schools, where they attended classes, be torn
down, but said old City Hall stands as it always did.

Another thing that has stayed the same over the years, they
said, is that they are still glad they’re twin sisters.

Miller is the widow of Herbert Miller, who died about 10 years
ago, she said. They owned and operated a small engine business
together for 25 years. They had five children, Jack Miller of
Bradford, Candy Ferguson in California and Doug Miller of Bradford;
Ralph Miller, who died about 10 years ago, and Roger Miller, who
died as a small child.

Dudley is the widow of Ray Fink, who died in 1969, and is now
the wife of Kenneth Dudley. A homemaker, cook and craft worker, she
has four children -ðEdward Fink in Texas, Leona Ostrum of Emporium,
Stuckey and Lloyd Fink of Port Allegany.