Alva Review-Courier -

At age 100, she's still a brunette and does not color her hair.

How many 100-year-old women do you know who drive themselves to church 25 miles away from their home in which they still reside? You might visit with her at Wal-Mart in Alva where, yes, she drove herself from her home in Burlington.

That would be Helen Beisel who just turned 100 on Feb. 28. Friends and family celebrated with her at a big birthday party complete with balloons printed with 100, cake , cards and lots of floral bouquets, in addition to multiple family and friends. Beisel's monumental birthday was celebrated at her church, the Zion Lutheran in Alva, of which she's been a member for decades.

"They really spoil me," she said looking around her living room filled with numerous now-fading floral bouquets, memory books made by family that are filled with pictures of Beisel as a baby with her German-born parents to all the stages of her life over the last century. To date she's received 135 birthday cards. She proudly showed a certificate sent to her that was signed by Gov. Mary Fallin to recognize her 100th birthday.

When asked what is the secret to her longevity, Beisel said, "I give my parents and German heritage credit. We were taught to work."

Her parents were Henry and Bertha Otte. At age 17, he came to America and lived in a German settlement west of Wichita and farmed. Returning to Germany he found his bride and they returned to America, settling northwest of Alva where they farmed.

As a young girl, Beisel said she attended the Pleasantview School through eighth grade as was common in those country schools. She recalls walking to school through a pasture with the family's dog and also mentioned her "really good" teacher. She was the youngest of four children and is now the only one still living.

"We all helped on the farm – milking cows, gardening and canning, sewing – everything," Beisel said.

She met Reinhold Beisel, who turned out to be her husband of 65 years, when he came to visit from Fargo and they met at church. They married in 1948 and started farming northwest of Burlington on a farm she said her father bought. For those who know the area, their farm was "just west of the flats."

"We lived there 35 years," Beisel said. "We worked hard, but we liked it."

At another point, Beisel said her parents gave each of their children a quarter of land. She calls her land "the cemetery place," southeast of Burlington. "I've had that piece of land for 70 years," she said. At that time in the 1940s, she said a quarter of land sold for about $12,500.

The couple had no children, but Beisel said, "I have a grand family. They look after me." She was referring to her seven nieces and nephews. One of them is deceased, Louis Schupbach. She remains close to his family and the other nieces and nephews who could all attend her birthday party except one. Beisel's mind is sharp as a tack as she talked about Louis and Janis Schupbach and their children – mentioning Joelle Randall of Alva and her children and all their busy activities. "I love my great nieces and nephews," Beisel said.

Randall described her dad's aunt as "an amazing lady." Known for her noodles, Beisel said it's getting more difficult for her to make the favorite comfort food requested by young and old alike. "They have to be cut thin," she said of her noodles that she makes by scratch and rolls out before cutting.

At the traditional Alva Lutheran Church Chicken Noodle Supper in October, Beisel continues to go and slice pies. She remembers the bazaars at the church. "They are all good cooks over there."

"My old friends are all gone. I'm the oldest member of my church and in the general vicinity," Beisel said.

Beisel usually has a stack of newspapers on her kitchen table as she keeps up with what's happening in the world, which she said during this interview is "frightening."

"I liked the outdoor life and farming," Beisel said.

The Beisels decided to build a brick home on the west edge of Burlington in the early 1980s, where she continues to live and said, "It was the best decision we made." She's mobile around her one level home, using a walker for stability. When asked about their lifestyle that enabled her to reach 100 years, Beisel said, "We didn't drink or smoke and we ate what we want."

A member of the Happy Day Club, Beisel remembers the ladies met twice a month in the afternoon. Then eight couples played card games at night. "It was a nice, fun, group," she said. Now Beisel said she and her neighbor Ruth Ferrell are the only living members of that group in Burlington. Many people commented on what a good neighbor Beisel was. She remembers fun, Sunday evening card games with her friends who were widows.

One morning in 1988 Mr. Beisel had a stroke while at home. "He was in the hospital over 70 days," she recalled. While some were not optimistic about his prognosis, Beisel said she encouraged her husband to do rehab, and is so glad she did. "We had years of quality time," she said. He died in 2004.

Mr. Beisel was a World War II veteran. "The good Lord watched over him," she said thankfully. Beisel said her husband's parents "were very common people and came from Russia before Communism came in."

"I've seen a lot of things in my lifetime – the Dust Bowl, the Depression," Beisel said. As a young person living in the country during the Dust Bowl, she recalls waking up with dirt in her nostrils. Many people had, and some died from having dust pneumonia, she said. During those days, she remembers getting to travel to California with her parents to spend some time in the winter.

Born in 1917, Beisel was born in the good company of people like former president John F. Kennedy and entertainer Dean Martin. A poster presented at her birthday party showed that fun fact and more in 1917 such as: a loaf of bread cost nine cents; a postage stamp cost two cents; average cost of a car was $375; a gallon of gas was 24 cents; the average income was $1,100; marshmallow crème was invented.

Beisel remembers a buggy ride as a little girl, but her main mode of transportation was some of the first cars. She recalls kerosene lamps and how batteries and motors changed things. As that little girl walking to a country school, she probably didn't envision she'd board an airplane with her sister Fern Schupbach in 1973 to fly to Germany to see their dad's home where they saw the small acreage where it all started for her family.