With a smile, strength and energy, Marie Willan greeted kids from the school she attended more than 90 years ago.
The St. Anns Catholic School kids visited Willan at Humphrey Manor to give her birthday cards to celebrate her extraordinary birthday. She turned 100 on Saturday.
Willan intently looked at each card as the children showed them to her and listened to them sing. Afterward she gave them all a big hug.
Her voice was clear, her face was bright, and the children doubted her age.
Now at 100, she is in fairly good health, enjoys fishing and has countless memories.
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Her secret to a long life is simple: She said theres no secret.
Just keep on going, she said.
Willan has lived around Wadena her whole life. She was the oldest of nine children, seven of whom are still living. She grew up on a farm southeast of Wadena. At age 21, she married Harry Andrie, who was buried on their 51st wedding anniversary. When she was about 78 years old, she married Lloyd Willan, who died in 1997. She has one son, six grandkids and 14 great-grandchildren.
Now at 100, she continues to enjoy living Humphrey Manor.
She said its nice to have friends at the manor.
All the people who live around her are friends, she said.
She also has a pet bird she calls Buddy.
Hes a lot of company, Willan said.
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Willan has always enjoyed a variety of activities. Her favorite activities through the years include sewing, cooking, playing cards and dancing. She still likes to fish and enjoys listening to the radio and watching television. Shes interested in technology and wishes her eyesight were good enough to use a computer.
Im an all-around girl, I guess, she said.
She also exercised at Humphrey Manor until she recently got sick.
It takes awhile to get back in the groove, she said.
Though shes had occasional illnesses, she thinks shes always had good health.
Ive always been able to bounce back anyway, she said.
For the most part, she eats nutritious meals.
Though she seems to live a healthy lifestyle with a good diet and exercise, she had never really thought about reaching 100.
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She remembered talking to people when she was younger, trying to figure out how to say the years in the 2000s. They wondered if they would say 20-something, but they knew saying 21 for the year 2001 wouldnt work. Finally, they decided they didnt have to worry about it because they wouldnt live long enough.
Now, in the year 2006, Willan knows how the 2000s are pronounced.
Besides seeing the turn of the millennium, Willan learned to live through two world wars and the Great Depression.
The depression wasnt much of a hardship because she lived on a farm and they raised their own food, so no one went hungry, she said.
As long as you can eat and live, you dont mind it much, she said.
She grew up farming and continued to farm when married.
She found farming to be a good life, even if it doesnt make a person rich.
You make do or do without, whichever way it has to be, she said.
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She remembers not being able to get gas or tires for machinery in World War II.
She also remembers news traveling slowly and that she learned World War I started several days after it began. She didnt know what war was then, only that it wasnt good.
Wadena has changed too, she remembers. She remembers Main Street getting muddy from the rain and horses hitched along the road.
Through all the changes in 100 years, Willan still likes the world.
Shes always liked it, she said.
Her perspective is both idealistic and realistic.
You make the world what you want, she said, Accept it how it is.
