Lansing centenarians celebrate birthdays

by B.J. Tomlinson

Two residents of Thornton Manor in Lansing recently celebrated their 100th and 110th birthdays this past March. Now 100, Laura Fruechte was born March 29, 1909 in Lansing. Sarah Wilkins was born March 27, 1899 in Harpers Ferry and is 110.

Want any sage advice on how to live a long time? Sarah says she takes an aspirin every day. Laura says it's because she still has a lot of interests. The Thornton Manor staff concur that Laura and Sarah both stay active and continue to participate in the activities offered.

Sarah's face lights up when you mention The Toe Tappers, a group that played for her birthday party last month. She recalls walking five miles to Harpers Ferry to school. And back home again. Every day. Sarah quit school after 8th grade, as was usual for women in her era. She and her husband, Harry Wargin reared four children. Later, after Harry died, she married Wilbur Wilkins. She and Wilbur traveled extensively overseas. She enjoyed sewing and music and never drove a car. Her younger sister, Marcella Strub, age 102, lives in New Albin.

Laura smiles a lot and remembers games of hop scotch, hide and go seek and jacks when she was young. She was born and raised in Lansing at 515 Dodge Street, right behind the Old Stone School, and later attended college. She was married young she said, "At 19," and proudly shows her wedding picture. (She married Leo Fruechte, but they had no children). Although she didn't realize her childhood dream of being a nurse, Laura did attend to the sick and elderly in their homes. She was a member of the German Presbyterian Church, which was always a central part of her life; she taught Sunday school and played the piano for many church functions. She thinks the most exciting invention she witnessed in her life was the automobile and remembers well the World Wars, the Great Depression, listening to the radio and airplanes. Did she ever smoke or drink? "No," she laughed.

What are the chances you'll live to 100? Mark Haverland of the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs reports there are over 600 Iowans who have reached the age of 100 or beyond, due in part to better health care for the elderly. He says this number is bound to increase because "Medicine is making it hard to die." Ninety percent of the state's centenarians are women and most live in nursing homes.