Edna Lawler: 108 years and counting
BY STEVE METSCH smetsch@southtownstar.com January 13, 2012 10:56PM
108-year-old Edna Lawler smiles while talking about her life at Waterford Estates Retirement Home, 17400 S. Kedzie, in Hazel Crest IL on Friday January 13, 2012. Her birthday is today | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media
Article Extras
Updated: May 9, 2012 10:10AM
When Edna Lawler was born, Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House.
When she was 4 years old, the Cubs won the World Series — something they haven’t done since.
She was 8 when the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic.
And when she was 14, she picked up a telephone and learned “The Great War” — better known as World War I — was over.
“My mother was in the field helping my father husk corn. The phone rang and rang, and that’s how we found out the war had ended. I ran out and told my folks,” she said.
Lawler, who was born in Goodland, Ind., on Jan. 13, 1904, celebrated her 108th birthday Friday at the Waterford Estates Retirement Community in Hazel Crest.
She’s lived there since she turned 99, said daughter Irma Pestlin, of Tinley Park.
Pestlin and other family members gathered for a birthday party held for Lawler and four other centenarians who also live there: Laura Covelli turns 102 on Feb. 6, Dora Nietfeldt hits 101 on July 30, Woodrow Litcher marks a century on Sept. 22, and Dortha Harwood will be 105 on Nov. 11.
Ah, they’re whippersnappers compared to Lawler.
“I’ll take all I can get,” she said with a smile. “God had a hand in it, I guess. Have to give credit where credit is due.”
She’s hard of hearing, and failing eyesight doesn’t allow her to read or watch TV as often as she’d like. But she enjoys visits with her family, along with playing bingo and other activities offered to residents.
Lawler grew up on a farm near downstate Beaverville, about 20 miles southeast of Kankakee. After she married her late husband, John, they moved to Harvey in 1934. Four daughters — Jean, Marilyn, Connie and Irma — were born from 1935 to 1943.
Lawler, who worked as a maid before she was married, stayed busy as a homemaker.
“Women,” she said, “never retire.”
She and John had been married 54 years when he died in 1988.
The Great Depression was hard on most people, but her family got by.
She recalls her father buying his first car, a Ford, back in 1914. That had her reciting a poem from those days.
“A little gas, a little oil, a little wire they called a coil. Piece of tin, a 12-foot board, nailed together makes a Ford,” Lawler said.
Lawler, who has 13 grandchildren, also has 27 great-grandchildren.
Her youngest grandchild, Leah Dalton, 39, of Clarendon Hills, said people don’t believe her when she says her grandma is 108.
“People think she’s my great-grandmother,” she said.
Norm Pestlin, Irma’s husband, joked that his mother-in-law of 19 years “is in better shape than my wife.”
Lawler, who uses a walker or holds onto a friendly arm to walk, said she preferred living on a farm, “but that was so long ago.”
“I was 10 or 11 when I started baking pies for the family,” she said. “Mother made sure we had our chores.”
She still laughs when she recalls her brothers, Charles and Zenis, leading a hired hand on a hunting trip.
“The farm was so big, Father had to hire someone to help him out. This fella, he was a little bit slow, and they began talking about snipes. They had a lot of fun. After a while, he gave up and went to bed,” Lawler said.
The eldest of six siblings, she’s the last survivor.
Irma Pestlin credits healthy living “and an unshakable faith in God” for her mother’s long life. Lawler has been in the congregation of Ascension Church in Harvey for 78 years.
Lawler’s advice for those hoping to join the century club is simple: “Keep your nose clean.”
Does she have any regrets?
“At the time,” she said, “but they heal up.”
Comments Click here to view or make a comment