Wow!  It’s a rare thing really.  I don’t know if I’ve ever met a centenarian before, but tomorrow will be Marge’s Mom’s 100th birthday.  And it’s a difficult thing to wrap your mind around.  Angie was born on Tuesday March 7th, 1916.  36,525 days ago.

Does that number not seem like much?  For historical perspective, Angie was born when Woodrow Wilson was president.  One day after Angie was born, the Mexican Revolutionary Pancho Villa led about 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against New Mexico, and the U.S. 13th Cavalry Regiment fought back and drove them away.  A week later, president Wilson sent troops into Mexico to pursue Pancho Villa.

In 1916, the Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” was the state-of-the-art military airplane and a brand new Chevy could be had for $550.  The silent movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was big in theaters, Charlie Chaplin was a major movie actor and director, and Gregory Peck wasn’t born yet.

Also in the spring of 1916 the Chicago Cubs were to play their first baseball game at what would become the modern day Wrigley Field, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings.  Angie would eventually become a huge baseball fan and enjoyed following the Minnesota Twins.

So Congratulations To You Angie! 100 years is an amazing milestone!

The whole Effinger clan came up today and we got together at Diamond Willow Assisted Living in Proctor where Angie has been living since 2010.  We had cake and ice cream and it was nice for her to see her entire family in one place again.  As time wears on it seems like we don’t all get together in one place all that often and it was great to see everyone.

Marge was able to coordinate with the Duluth News Tribune to have a nice notice placed in today’s paper commemorating the occasion.

100 CANDLES (Notice printed in the Duluth News Tribune Sunday, March 6th, 2016)

Angeline “Angie” Effinger of Duluth, currently of Proctor, will celebrate her 100th birthday with family today at Diamond Willow Assisted Living in Proctor.

Angie was born March 7, 1916, in Duluth, where she was raised and attended Denfeld High School. Her family lived on Wellington Street in the West End. Angie married Lawrence Effinger June 13, 1942. Lawrence passed in 2001.

Angie sang in the choir at St. Clement’s Church, where she met Lawrence, and St. Jeans, now known as Holy Family Catholic Church. She loved to sing and also played the guitar and organ. She loves watching the Twins games, rodeos, reading and crossword puzzles.

Her children are Jane (Effinger) Kjeseth of St Paul; Patricia “Buffy” Effinger of St Paul; Jerry and Kristy Effinger of Blaine, Minn.; Tim Effinger of Duluth; Mary and Steven Swor of Walker, Minn.; Gregory Effinger of Duluth; and Marge and David Back of Brule. She has four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.