WEYAUWEGA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – It may have been Father’s Day Sunday, but it’s also a very special day for a woman in Weyauwega.
She celebrated a birthday, few ever reach.
Harriett Dean was born on June 19, 1920.
On Sunday, her family gathered at her home to celebrate her 102nd birthday.
“We didn’t have television, we didn’t have our cell phones, we didn’t have much of anything,” said Dean. “We had our squawky radio.”
Dean was born and raised in Weyauwega. She now lives alone and was a teacher in the district for 24 years.
“I went through the high school, the grade school here and then came back and taught here,” said Dean. “I taught algebra and geometry at Weyauwega high school.”
Although, Dean says she doesn’t like the cold weather Wisconsin has to offer in the winter she flies to Mesa, Arizona during the cold months, which she’s been doing for the last 35 years.
“Not to get away from my family,” said Dean. “I live in a park called View Point which is 55 and older. We have a lot of activities and a lot of friends there and the climate is beautiful.”
Dean may be more than a century old, but that doesn’t stop her from doing her favorite hobbies, like playing a little bridge and golf.
“I golfed three times last year,” said Dean. “But it’s rather embarrassing. My ball doesn’t go very far anymore.”
She adds she’s planning on going again sometime soon.
“The Weymont Run County Club, three or four years ago, gave me a lifetime membership,” said Dean. “A friend took me out last year, and I golfed a few holes, visited with my friends. She said she’s going to take me out again this year.”
Dean says she’s not up to much these days, but she says the one thing that keeps her life young, is her beloved family.
When asked how to live to 102, Dean offered up some advice.
“Just do what you want to do. Eat what you want to, exercise if you don’t want to, or if you want to and I don’t. The way I live, I should’ve lived to be 15, because I do just what I want to do.”
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