‘People tell me I had a hard life’

Lifelong Waseca area resident Lois Anderson turned 100 on February 22. She freely admits her longevity has surprised her as much as anyone else. She was born at home in New Richland to parents Helmer and Jessie Anderson; not only is she a centenarian, but she’s approximately 36,525 days old.

 

When asked whether she ever pictured herself reaching the age of 100, her immediate response was, “No.” She quickly explained no other member of her family has done so, and she didn’t expect to be the first.

 

“So, I thought, ‘Why should I?’” Anderson added.

 

Indeed, after her husband Leonard died in 1994 at age 72, she went on to live independently for nearly two decades. Her daughter, Judy, reveals Anderson had a boyfriend for a while.

 

“I just live,” Anderson said simply.

 

Anderson’s 100 years have overlapped some very significant historical events. Two world wars. A husband with polio. But from Anderson’s gentle but resilient attitude, no one would know it.

 

She was the second-youngest of seven siblings and is the only one still living. After Anderson turned two, her parents moved from New Richland to Otisco, where she spent the rest of her childhood. Her father owned a grocery store in Otisco, which worked out well for the family during the depression, since her family always had food.

 

Anderson also remembers that, during that time, everyone she knew wore homemade or hand-me-down clothing. When the soles of their shoes wore out, they put cardboard inside, or cut an old rubber inner tube to use as an insole. That way, they didn’t wear holes in their stockings, Anderson said.

 

She attended country school district 46. At that time, the school was state of the art, with indoor toilets, a basement, and a furnace. It was about a half mile from where she lived. In the winter, she sometimes rode sleigh runners for double purposes – for one, it made her trip quicker, and for another, it was a lot more fun. When it came time for high school, she attended at Waseca, graduating in 1941. As a young adult, she worked at her parents’ grocery store.

 

She’s lived with some ironies – the fact that her husband Leonard was also an Anderson – yes, even spelled the same. On top of it, he began by attempting to court Lois’s younger sister, who didn’t want anything to do with him since they shared the same last name. Lois decided she would give Leonard a chance. She says she was glad about her choice, since the two of them “really hit it off.”

 

She remembers their first date was a silent movie. In the two years Lois and Leonard dated, they also often went to the roller-skating rink. Both before and after marrying, she remembers they often went dancing together at the Kato Ballroom near Mankato. Among their favorites were waltzes and polkas.

 

“We did a lot of that,” Anderson said.

 

After marrying on November 17, 1944, the couple rented a farm for a while. In 1950, they moved to Waseca, making their home and raising their family there. Her father, Helmer, eventually sold his grocery store to Lois and Leonard.

 

Fortunately for Leonard, he never had to leave his family behind to serve in World War II; although he took the physical examination that would have begun the process of joining the military. The war ended before he was drafted. It was about the same time they had their first child, Bert. They went on to have two other children, Cathy, who came next, and Judy, the youngest. Lois expressed she would gladly have had even more children – “enough for a baseball team” – but Leonard was diagnosed with polio.  

 

He spent over a year in a hospital in the Twin Cities: The polio spread from his right arm, through his stomach, and into his left leg. Lois said Leonard had a hard time getting up from sitting.

 

“He had to really push himself,” she remembered.

 

“He was right-handed, so he couldn’t move his arm to write,” Lois’s daughter Judy remembered. “He used his left hand to move his right hand around and write with a pen.”

Judy observed Leonard got around pretty well for most of the years of his life; she doesn’t remember him spending time feeling sorry for himself.

 

“He could walk,” Judy said. “[A doctor] told him he wouldn’t walk without the use of a cane, but he did, for years. It was only the last year he was in a wheelchair.”

 

He was also able to get a driver's license under the condition he kept certain equipment in his vehicle. For one thing, he was required to have a handle on his steering wheel, since he could only drive with one arm. He was also required to have an easily accessible emergency brake in case he needed it. But, according to Judy, Leonard seldom used the equipment.

 

Lois also didn’t allow misfortunes to hold her back, even when her grocery store burned down while Leonard was still in the hospital and Judy was just two months old.

 

After Leonard returned home, he took care of the children while Lois got a job; the couple also received some support from a government program. Judy mentioned she remembered Lois working all day, then coming home to sew clothes for her and her siblings.

 

“It made me stronger, I guess,” was all Lois said about the circumstances. “Somebody told me once I had a hard life; I told them I didn’t think so. It was all just something I had to do and I did it.”

 

Eventually, the state set Leonard up with a popcorn wagon, which he and the children used to earn income. The family owned it from 1951 to 1971 before he sold it to someone in Waterville. In turn, that person sold it to a museum in Mason City, Iowa.

 

For the 20 years he operated his popcorn business, Leonard typically used it during the Waseca County fair. Judy said he ended up buying a second popcorn wagon which also had a cotton candy machine she and her siblings usually ran. She also remembered her mother was in charge of and made caramel corn and caramel apples sometimes.

 

Leonard also took the popcorn wagon to special events in the region, including at the Steele County fairgrounds in Owatonna and Kolacky Days in Montgomery. When it wasn’t at fairs, Judy recalled that she and her siblings or cousins ran the second popcorn wagon at Clear Lake Park, which often stayed open until ten at night.

 

Judy remembers that Lois and Leonard purchased a home when she was six years old; the house had an apartment which they rented out for additional income. The money helped them pay off the house, and even eventually purchase a cabin on French Lake near Faribault.

 

Before Leonard died, he and Lois enjoyed spending time at their cabin with their six grandchildren and nine great-grandkids. They fished, rode on their pontoon, spent time in the water, and had bonfires once in a while. They would also often have fireworks on the Fourth of July. Judy mentioned there was a tire swing the kids liked to play on.

 

Lois was 92 before taking up residence in Colony Court; despite the move she continued to be very independent. She would travel to Arizona to see her sister each winter and stay through the coldest part of the Minnesota year. For a while, she even owned a condominium in Coolidge, near Casa Grande.

 

Yet another irony in Lois’s life was having always taken precautions against falling on ice; yet, while traveling at age 89, she broke her hip while playing shuffleboard. Another major injury occurred when she fell in the bathroom, hit her head, and realized she was bleeding badly. She held a towel against the wound and called a friend to tell her about the incident. After hanging up, she says, she realized she should call 911.

 

“The EMTs told her that if she wouldn’t have put anything over her head, she would’ve died,” Judy added.

 

In the fairly recent past, Lois woke up without any feeling in her left leg, then discovered she couldn’t get up no matter how hard she tried. She was sent to Rochester, but was walking again the next day. Mayo Clinic kept her for three days before sending her home.

 

Up until then, Lois would travel and visit family in California, Florida, and Washington.

 

She entertains herself playing card games like hearts or spider solitaire, two of her favorites, on an iPad. Among other pastimes she enjoys are word games, knitting a family of snowmen for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and crocheting afghans which she has donated to her local church. She makes sure to use the Colony Court exercise room and take walks at least twice a week.

 

Lois still strives to have as much of a social life as possible. Bert calls her just about every day, Judy shared. When Judy visits Lois, she takes her mom out to eat at Burger King where she enjoys the chicken nuggets. Lois also has a social media account where she keeps in touch with family members and friends.