August 30, 2017 at 4:04 p.m.
Rhinelander's 'other mother' celebrates 100th birthday
Rhinelander's 'other mother' celebrates 100th birthday
By Kayla Thomason-
"I had a huge party here at Rennes with family and a lot of other friends," Catlin said. "It was wonderful, people I haven't seen in years."
"I think I'm pretty lucky to be here with my family and friends," she added.
Several generations of Catlin's family enjoyed marble cake and many laughs at the event.
Catlin said she was thrilled to visit with her 19 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren. Her oldest grandchild is 55 and the youngest is 19, she noted. People came from as far away as California, Seattle and Florida to celebrate the milestone.
"We are blessed she is still with us and she has never acted as old as her physical being is and I think that's why she's lived so long," said Deb Knutson, Catlin's daughter. "She's always lived with lots of love and laughter and being close to her family and loving all the little kids that are around."
Knutson was amazed by the number of people who came to wish her mother a happy birthday.
"We were just overwhelmed by the number of people that turned out," she said. "We were happily surprised that as many people turned out as they did."
On Saturday night they had a party at The Haven restaurant and Catlin spent four hours dancing and singing from her wheelchair.
On her birthday, Mayor Dick Johns paid a visit and made a proclamation naming Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, Virginia Catlin Day in Rhinelander.
"That was quite an honor," Knutson said.
Merrill High School, Catlin's alma mater, deemed her a Bluejay staff member for her birthday, gave her a coffee mug, staff T-shirt and a picture of her with her graduating class.
She received letters from former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, as well as Gov. Scott Walker, and a flag was flown over the U.S. capital in her honor. The flag will be delivered to her at a later date. Catlin also received a card from the Green Bay Packers organization and her name was mentioned on "The TODAY Show' Smucker's birthday club.
"There was a lot of neat things that happened as a result of her turning 100," Knutson said.
Knutson and her siblings wrote to most of the presidents, the governor, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, the mayor, media and the Green Bay Packers.
"It's wonderful," Knutson said. "She was so honored. This was her comment yesterday 'Yesterday, I was just a normal person, today I'm a superstar.'"
Knutson reflected on her mother and the kind of woman she is.
"She's got quite a personality, good sense of humor, very sweet, never said a bad word about anybody, likes to tell jokes," Knutson said, adding that her mother also enjoyed going to the casino, playing cribbage and cards.
Catlin is also a huge Green Bay Packers fan, with Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Donald Driver being her favorites. She asks her family when the games will be on television and someone visits her on gameday.
Catlin went to Jefferson Elementary School, junior high and the Merrill High School, graduating in 1936. She is the only surviving student from her graduating class.
She went on to be a beautician in Merrill before taking a job at Leuthold-Bahr, a clothing store in Rhinelander.
Catlin married her husband, Vern, on Nov. 7, 1942, and they enjoyed 58 years together before he passed away June 5, 2000 at the age of 79.
She had eight children, but one passed away after birth. She was a stay-at-home mom to the seven children.
The family moved to Rhinelander in 1951 and by that time five of the children were born.
Catlin was maternal toward many of her childrens' friends and treated them as her own.
"She has always had a lot of friends and welcomed other people's children into our home, even though they had seven children she welcomed other people's children into our home, maybe not to live but to take them under their wing if they had a parent that passed or something," Knutson said. "She was known as some kids' 'other mother.'"
"She was just a fantastic mom, always there for us kids," said another daughter, Carol "Pinky" DeLoye.
DeLoye said her mother would give friends and family haircuts as a favor or in exchange for something.
The family was grateful for everyone who attended the celebration and those who helped make it possible.
"We want to thank the staff at Rennes, they just made this whole party happen and they were so helpful and accommodating in addition to the care she's getting out here and we also want to thank all the people that attended," Knutson said. "It really made her day and it will give her memories she will never forget."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.