Local 100-year-olds can’t explain their longevity
It seemed half the population of Elgin helped Alice Eichhorst celebrate her 100th birthday earlier this month.
Police officers, the mayor, a county commissioner, even a police dog were on hand for cake and congrats. The governor sent his regards, as did U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
And from members of the community, who learned about the big event through social media, she received hundreds of cards and gifts, including copious skeins of yarn to feed her daily knitting/crocheting habit. Turning 100 is a still big deal. Even as the nation ages and more people, mostly women, are living past the century mark, the number of centenarians in this country is still a small percentage of the population.
And, like Eichhorst, those reaching the milestone are mostly stumped by their own longevity.
“I don’t know why I’ve lived so long,” Eichhorst said recently from her apartment at The Vines Senior Homes in Elgin. “I just say God is with me.”
The Dundee native, who has fond memories of driving a midget race car at her uncle’s South Bend racetrack when she was 18, was married twice and raised two daughters.
She worked for a time at the Elgin Watch Factory and then for many years at the cosmetic counter of a local store.
Her love for dancing and knitting helped keep her in shape and mentally sharp but she can’t point to any particular reason she would outlive both husbands and a daughter, as well as countless friends.
Perhaps it’s the ability to adapt and maintain a positive outlook, she speculates.
She lived alone into her 80s, before moving to The Vines. Now she shares a room with another avid crocheter. They call themselves “the knitwits.”
You might say her homespun values helped her stay so healthy. When asked what has been the most exciting thing to happen during her lifetime, she said, “The birth of twin great-grandchildren.”
Lorraine Kane also credits the simple things in life with giving her the most satisfaction. The resident of the Smith Crossing senior living complex in Orland Park turned 101 in October.
“I’m happy with my life,”
Kane said during a recent interview. She worked until last year, handling the books for Suburban Towing, a Hazel Crest business she started decades ago with her late son.
Soon after her 100th birthday, she handed the reins to her grandson.
Now she spends her days exercising in the Smith Crossing workout room and her nights playing pinochle and bridge with fellow residents.
“It keeps my brain sharp and I enjoy the company,” she said.
Kane, who has three grandchildren, seven great grandchil
dren and 11 great-greats, wed her high school sweetheart two years after graduation.
“I wanted to go to college but it was the Depression and there was no money,” she recalled. Instead, she found work, first as a “mother’s helper” and then as an overnight copy reader for the Southtown Economist newspaper.
She enjoyed working, she said. The roots of her work ethic were planted at the tender age of 5.
Her mother owned an infant clothing shop on Chicago’s South Side. One day when she had to step out, she locked the door and told Kane not to open it for anyone. When her mother returned, she quickly learned her daughter had not only disobeyed her but sold a spool of thread to an insistent shopper.
“I was so proud that I made a sale but my mother was so mad I let somebody in,” she said, adding that she’d sold the thread for a nickel, half its value.
Both her parents were inspiring role models, Kane said, particularly her mother, who opened her own a shop at a time when there were few women business owners. Perhaps that’s why Kane didn’t think twice about opening a tow truck business with her son, Jack Kane, in 1971.
“We worked round the clock doing mostly heavyduty towing,” she said. When a woman came to her and said she wanted to learn how to tow trucks, they trained her, Kane said.
“She worked for us for several years,” she said.
Confidence and encouragement have played a role in her success, Kane said, but she can’t really say why she has outlived so many people, including her husband and son.
“The only bad thing about living so long — so many friends have passed away, even so many of my new friends have passed away,” she said. “You don’t make many new friends once you get to be 90 years old. If you live in a senior facility, though, you can. I was a treasurer here for six years in the gift shop. I met a lot of people.
“The best thing I did was move here. There’s lots of companionship,” she said.
Eichhorst, too, said the companionship of living in a senior facility helps keep her sharp.
“I don’t think I have too many years left but I’m happy here,” she said. “I’ve got a good memory and a good sense of humor.
“But I can’t tell you why I’ve lived so long,” she said.