Vera Wilson celebrates 90th birthday

According to Vera Wilson, the term for someone in their 90s who is celebrating a birthday is a “non-age-narian.” Surrounded by dozens of family members and friends, Wilson celebrated her ninetieth birthday celebration at the New Richland City Hall on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Visitors were asked to sign in so the guest of honor would be able to keep track of who came to visit. There were pictures, both black-and-white and color showing the range of years she had  lived through. Her warm and glowing smile surrounded by family was a welcomed change from the wind, bitter cold and grey skies outside.

Born in 1935, Wilson met her husband while he was home on leave from the Air Force during the Korean War early in the 1950s. They married very soon after he was discharged–a process which took longer than usual because the military learned at the time of his departure that he had misrepresented his age to enter the service.  When they married on July 30, 1955, “he didn’t have his discharge papers yet.” The couple went on to have three children, two girls and a boy. Susie Wigham, now 68; Jim Wilson, now 62; and Rosanne Hill, now 59. Those three children went on to provide 12 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren so far. They were married for more than 30 years before her husband’s death in 1992.

Posters and displays along the wall highlighted what was current in 1935: The president at the time was Franklin D. Roosevelt; the world population was 2.2 billion. The Social Security Act was signed into law. The first parking meters were installed in Oklahoma City. Planes were forbidden by law from flying over the White House. The Detroit Tigers won the World Series. Elvis Presley and Woody Allen were born in 1935. Gas cost 19 cents a gallon. “Cheek to Cheek” by Bing Crosby and “The Good Ship Lollypop” by Shirley Temple were number one on the charts.

In her spare time, Wilson likes to read the Free Press out of Mankato or the NRHEG Star Eagle. She likes to watch westerns on TV. Of books she likes mysteries, which she refers to as “whodunnits.”  She likes the author Brinkman or Daniel Steele.