Recognized as Minnesota’s oldest resident, nation’s eighth-oldest individual
Back 112 years ago – on the fifth of August in 1905 – Lena Dick was born Lena Helen Schultz at home in Midway Township of Cottonwood County, the daughter of Isaac D. and Cornelia “Nellie” (Peters) Schultz.
At that time, the Rough Rider himself, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was the President of the United States; the cost of a first-class postage stamp was two cents; the population of this nation was 83,822,000; the first train was equipped with electric lights; the first movie theater opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Thomas Edison had just proposed the Theory of Relativity.
Lena was the second child born into the family. She had three brothers – David (1903-1995), Albert (1997-2002) and Willard (1910-1976), and a sister, Susanna (1916-1916).
Lena married Jacob Dick in the 1930s. She worked hard on their farm as the epitome of a farm wife of that time (all done in a dress and apron) – feeding the pigs and chickens, gathering the eggs from the hens, other necessary chores, making rib-sticking meals for her family – plus as a supportive and caring wife and nurturing mother to two sons, Alvin and Willard, and a daughter, Dorothy.
There was, too, of course, all that gardening, cooking, baking and sewing to do. In fact, Lena kept crocheting until the age of 110. Over the years, her crochet hooks had clicked out a soft mountain of afghans. As well, Lena was dutiful with her sewing needle, fabric pieces, batting and quilt frame, creating quilts of popular patterns; including for of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, providing them with a warm covering packed with love and memories. Many similar projects were sent around the globe, packaged in boxes of assistance items to be used for disaster relief. States her son, Willard Dick, “It was important to her to play a role in helping to keep babies warm anywhere in the world.”
Her husband, Jacob, passed away in 1987, just two weeks shy of his 85th birthday.
After moving into Mountain Lake from the farm site just west of the city, Lena lived in her own home at the southeast corner of 10th Street and Boxelder Street until she was almost 106-years-old. At that time, she moved into The Lodge, a Good Samaritan Society of Mountain Lake assisted living center. Two weeks ago, Lena moved down the hallway to The Village, the skilled care facility of the expansive Good Samaritan campus.
She brought with her when she moved to town her tradition of having a big garden from which to feed the family – just down-sizing it a little. This passion for gardening inspired Lena’s neighbor down Boxelder – artist Anita Skow – to paint on canvas Lena’s image as a caretaker of the soil. To that end, Lena tending her moss roses was captured for forever by Skow’s paintbrushes.
Lena experienced living through the Great Depression, with great thanks at that time for living on a farm where the family was able to raise and butcher their own meat, have their own milk cow and grow and can their own vegetables. Lena lived through an era in which she was a first-hand witness to a multitude of changes – from horse-and-buggy to automobiles; kerosene-lit streetlights to electricity for all; no telephone service to cell phone always in hand; wood-fed cook stoves to microwave ovens.
Family first
Lena was always prepared to welcome family and friends into her home, and punctuated that greeting with conversation and hand-baked goods.
The numbers around her table grew as the roots of the family tree reached out.
Lena has eight grandchildren:
- Steven (Tania)
- Johnathan (Vicki)
- James (Shannon)
- Carl (Sonya)
- Marie
- Debbie (Tim) Grant
- Bryan (Ellen)
- Kristi (Chad) Engbrecht
Sixteen great-grandchildren:
- Lydia
- Nadia
- Savannah
- Jacob
- Sophie
- Taylor (Aaron) Oie
- Tucker
- Taite
- Faith
- Lainey
- Wyatt
- Julia
- Ian
- Cade
- Tyler
- Audrey
Two step-great-granddaughters:
- Caitlin (Paul) Stonehausen
- Kara
One great-grandson:
- Everett Oie
Schooled on supercentenarians
According to The Gerontology Research Group (GRG), an organization that tracks supercentenarians, recognizes as the eighth-oldest person in the United States (and oldest in Minnesota), as of August 5. The seventh-oldest individual, Agnes Fenton, who was born in Mississippi and currently lives in New Jersey, was born four days before Lena, on August 1, 1905. Two other supercentenarians are also 112-years-old. The fifth-oldest, at 112 years, 34 days, is Clara Anderson, who was born on July 2, 1905 in Missouri. She now calls Alaska her home state. Alelia Murphy, the sixth-oldest, has a birth date of July 6, 1905 – 112 years, 30 days. Alelia was born in North Carolina and now lives in New York.
Delphine Gibson, born on August 17, 1903, in South Carolina, is the oldest person in the country at 113 years, 353 days. She now lives in Pennsylvania.
Interestingly, of the top 25 oldest individuals in the country, only one is male, Richard Arvid Overton, the 17th-oldest person. He was born on May 11, 1906, and as of today (Saturday, August 5) is 111 years, 86 days old. Richard has lived in Texas his entire life.
The oldest person ever from the United States was Sarah Knauss, who died on December 30, 1999 at the age of 119 years, 97 days.
Of recorded births worldwide, Lena as of today, ranks as 49th oldest.
When Lena was asked what it feels like to be 112, she had a one-word replay, “Old.”
Another candle for another milestone year
Birthdays are a good time to be reminded that the path ahead offers options – continue to grow – or grow old.
Human existence is made up of moments and stages of change; life cycle events – birth, growing into adulthood, marriage, the arrival of children and grandchildren, and seasonal events – such as harvests and holidays. Anthropologists even have a word for the state of being that occurs in these transitional moments – liminality, from the Latin limen, meaning “threshold.”
When standing on a threshold, people look back at the past – and prepare for the future.
