 Home | Recent News | Dodge City | Centenarians | Printme 20 Jul 2007 Three Centenarians look at life, livingIt may have been just another birthday to them, but there are three centenarians in residence at the Presbyterian Manor of the Plains in Dodge City. They are Hazel Muench, 103; Esther Petty, 101; and Agnes Hall, who turned 100 in May.
While those around them sit in wonderment at their longevity, the three white-haired, grandmotherly women won’t venture a guess about why they’ve lived so long. As Hall, the youngest, most mobile, and most impish of the three says shrugging her shoulders, “it just happened.”
They are three of the estimated 70,000 centenarians across the country—a number that is fueling a doubling trend per decade that is ongoing. They also are three of 107 residents at the Manor. Two more female residents are inching their way toward the century mark, too. The Kansas trio is representative of today’s social trends. Four of every five centenarians are female in the U.S. They tend to be non-Hispanic white and half of those counted, according to the U.S. Census, had completed some high school or more.
Yes, the centenarians remember the Dust Bowl years, space flights, wars, the Depression, but that’s not anything they dwell on.
Hall, who was born on May 24, 1907, in St. Paul, Kan., was one of five girls and four boys. She lost her mother before, she says, “I was old enough to see her.” Though she comes from a family of tall siblings, she claims she was the “runt.”
In 1953, she and her husband pulled up roots and moved their family of seven daughters to Dodge City, where he helped construct St. Mary of the Plains College and in 1990, “nailed the nails and poured the mortar” that built the Manor in which she now resides. She moved into an assisted living apartment at the Manor in 2005.
A devout Catholic, she says “I’m very fortunate that the Lord lets me get around as much as I do” as she points to her walker. By the way, the walker has a name. “It lives with me. I might as well give it a name,” she explains. “Suzi” is her name and it’s clear she gets her daily workout.
Hall loves writing poetry. Indeed, she’s been published in the Southwest Kansas Register, a Catholic publication. In 1977, she published a book of poems, “My Garden of Reflections.” They are the thoughts and memories that “run through my mind.” In them, she says in the forward, you may find “a bit of wisdom.”
Petty, now in a wheel chair and hard of hearing, has been a resident of the Manor since 2002. She was born March 7, 1906, in Plevna. Kan. Now in the Health Care Center, she was married for 58 years to Robert Petty, an ice deliveryman for 43 years. They had no children. Though she doesn’t watch much television, this senior with the sweet smile says she liked to sew and does some reading now.
Muench’s reaction to this longevity matter can be summed up with one word--“underwhelmed.” As to why she thinks she’s lived so long, she proclaims “It’s the Lord’s idea.” She’s a woman of few words born March 18, 1904, in Sharon, Pa. She had one daughter, and with no elaboration, she proclaims “When you have one, it’s nothing but trouble, nothing but trouble.”
Inquire about her diet and if there was something she ate that attributes to her long life, she says “I ate mostly what I wanted.” There’s a story about her frying a pound of bacon a week and consuming it over the next several days. Now thin and somewhat frail, she is a resident in the Health Care Center and gets around in a wheelchair. Thoughts on aging
Whatever their secrets to longevity, here is a 1992 poem by Agnes Hall that might explain the attitudes of the Dodge City centenarian trio about life.
Love, Laughter and the Written Word
I won’t be old before my day.
There’s too much to see and too much to say.
The sun will come up and lighten the way,
And I won’t be old before my day.
I walk down the path with flowers bright and gay.
I won’t say I’m old before my day.
I see in the mirror my wrinkles and my gray,
It may be harder to walk, then I’ll just shorten my way.
I’ll enjoy my children and my friends so gay,
and I won’t be old—not before my day.”
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She says her family worked in the steel industry. Her husband, Leon, was a farmer. Of the three centenarians, she’s the most traveled, having been to both Russia and China, all over Europe and the United States. Though she no longer paints, she loved china painting. For eight years, she also taught others the art. She participated in the annual Art Is Ageless competition held by the Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America that includes the participation of artists who are seniors in 17 areas in Kansas and Missouri. She participated and got recognition in 1994, 1995, 1998, and 1999. The work of first place winners is featured in the annual calendar produced by the Manors. Her own work can still be seen on the walls of Presbyterian Manor of the Plains.
If you are looking for tips for long life, here are a few these three centenarians can offer:
--Do your daily duty;
--Drink lots of water;
--Eat your vegetables (although there’s a disagreement about this one); and
-- Get plenty of exercise.
Oh and most importantly: “just live.”
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