Mrs. Luse Approaches 99th Birthday

LUSE, WORRALL

Posted By: Melissa Mayhew Grandt (email)
Date: 5/2/2009 at 12:33:50

Muscatine Journal, Muscatine (Muscatine Co.), Iowa, 28 March 1966.

Mrs. Luse Approaches 99th Birthday
By MRS. ROBERT SMITH Correspondent
On April 3, Mrs. Anna Luse of 215 W. 6th St. West Liberty will celebrate her 99th birthday, giving her the distinction of being West Liberty's oldest resident. A family dinner will be held for the occasion with all three of her children and some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren planning to attend. Her family includes one son, Ivan, of West Liberty, and two daughters, Miss Marjorie Luse of Des Moines and Mrs. Eleanor Myers of Kansas City. She has 3 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

Marjorie Luse comes to West Liberty two weeks of every month to be with her mother, and the rest of the time, Mrs. Luse is cared for by Mrs. Mary Burch, of Muscatine, who has become a good companion to her during the 10 years she has been caring for her.

Mrs. Luse, a cheerful and very alert lady, is anticipating a gift of a dozen roses for her birthday. "A friend in Iowa City has been sending me a dozen roses on my birthday for the past 15 years and promises me 100 roses for my 100th birthday," says Mrs. Luse.

Enjoys Reading
Although confined to her home, Anna Luse thoroughly enjoys life and keeps herself informed of current affairs. She is an avid reader, and being blessed with remarkable eyesight for her age, spends much time reading. Every day she reads two newspapers, enjoys books and magazines, and gets much inspiration from her daily reading of her Bible, her favorite passage being the 14th chapter of John. Her Bible, a gift of her daughter and grandson several years ago, has large print enabling her to read it easily. She is very interested in historical material and enjoyed very much reading Mrs. John Kennedy's book "The White House." Television is another of her pastimes.

Each morning Mrs. Luse washes and dries the breakfast dishes, and also dried them at noon and night. In spite of her arthritis, Mrs. Luse writes letters to her two daughters every week and occasionally writes to some nieces. During warm weather, she finds much satisfaction in sitting on her front porch, watching the happenings of the neighborhood.

She has always enjoyed children. When her own family was growing up, she shared her rolls, cookies and other goodies with many of the neighborhood children. And until very recently, she liked to read to neighbor children who came to call on her.

She has made many quilts in her lifetime and also has enjoyed making rugs, a hobby which she pursued until recent years.

Anna Luse was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Worrall who were pioneers of West Liberty coming here from Ohio in 1852 and settling on a farm 5 miles northeast of town where Anna was born in 1867. She graduated from the Iowa City Academy 83 years ago and attended a Presbyterian college in Geneseo, Ill. before her marriage to Harry Luse. She has lived in West Liberty all of her life, except for two years when she and her husband resided in Millersburg. Mr. Luse passed away 40 years ago, and Anna lived with a sister-in-law for many years following his death.

In her younger days, Mrs. Luse studied piano, and was the organist for the little country church near her home for several years. Mrs. Luse laughs in her charming manner in relating an incident about the family dog in those early years. Seems he liked to follow Anna to the church, and occasionally would slip inside and sit down by the organ to wait for her. Another recollection of those early years concerns the visiting ministers being entertained in the Worral home, often overnight. "How they enjoyed the country meals," she remembers.

Until about 13 years ago when she suffered a broken hip, Mrs. Luse traveled to visit relatives quite often.

She was a member of P.E.O. in her younger days and was an active worker in the Christian Church.

Anna Luse enjoys people and likes to have callers. Often the caller receives more than he gives, as Mrs. Luse has a gift for helping people with their troubles. Her cheerful outlook on life and her wonderful sense of humor are an inspiration to all who know her.

[PHOTO]
MRS. ANNA LUSE
Mrs. Luse has a keen memory of people and events of the past and recalls many interesting incidents. Picnics with groups of friends, rides in a "carry-all" rented from the livery stable, bobsled rides, the lamplighter coming each night with his ladder to light the oil street lamps, runaway horses-- these are but a few of her recollections.