Lillie

Lillie after an outdoor exercise class during COVID

Lillie

On November 9 this year, Lillie will be 100 years old.

Lillie lived in Viroqua for 50 years. It’s been almost three years since she moved away, and when I asked her what she missed most, she said, “My friends.” But then she added, “I already have a bunch of new friends here!”

Lillie now lives in Norman, Oklahoma, with her son Paul and his family, but we still see her twice a week, often three times, in our online Zoom exercise classes.

Lillie has been a role model for many of us. I met her 22 years ago in an exercise class I was leading called Strong Women. The first thing I noticed was that she already knew just about everybody in the class—and if she didn’t know them yet, she soon would!

It was about that time she started bringing me smoothies. After class, she’d hand me a drink and list all the healthy, wonderful ingredients in it. She knew I was traveling from one class to the next, and she wanted me to stay hydrated.

Once, as we walked out of the building together, Lillie missed a step and took a hard fall. As my heart raced and I considered calling 911, she popped up, brushed herself off, and said, “I’m okay!”

At the time, she was about 83 years young. I remember thinking how well she bounced—no broken bones—and how someday I hoped to be as strong as she was.

Lillie retired at 77 from Bethel Home, where she’d worked as a nurse, but she continued helping out on the night shift until she was 82. When I asked why the night shift, Lillie explained that it was the hardest shift to fill.

Recently, in class, Lillie shared with us that she’d been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, a parotid salivary tumor near her right ear. She felt her prayers for clarity and unity were answered when she met with her oncologist, who said that radiation would stop the growth and might even get rid of the tumor. Since then, it hasn’t spread to any other part of her body.

Before that appointment, when I asked Lillie her thoughts about having cancer, she answered, “It might be my time to be promoted to glory.”

Lillie’s attitude and faith aren’t a surprise to me or to anyone who knows her. She explained to me long ago that, throughout her life, she’s wanted to “know God better and have peace with him.”

At 36, as a young RN working in Stanley, North Dakota, Lillie attended a Lutheran camp to deepen her relationship with God. It was there that she met LeRoy, a minister at a small church who had brought several kids to attend the camp. LeRoy struck up a conversation with her as she enjoyed an ice cream cone. As Lillie said, “The rest is history.” They married a year later, in 1964, and had two sons, Paul and Jon.

LeRoy was "promoted to glory" at the age of 92. “It happened so fast,” Lillie said. She was at work at Bethel and made it to the hospital, where he passed away after a fall.

Every time we talk, Lillie recites her favorite scriptures to me, as if she’s reading straight from the Bible, but she isn’t. I’m awed by her memory, but even more by her total faith in God. She asks me if Dane and I are reading any of the Bibles she has sent us over the years. Lillie never wavers and assures me that the word of God is active.

In class, when we asked her to share her secrets to a long life, Lillie mentioned it’s important to keep moving. Her dad had participated in gymnastics while growing up in Denmark. He would tell her and her siblings, “What you need is some movement!”

Today, Lillie tells us that she regularly walks around the block with Paul, pushing a stroller that holds a 20-pound weight to keep it stable. It’s 2,400 steps around the block, and Lillie says they try to walk it every day, but they usually go around five times a week. Her goal is 5,000 steps a day, and on days when she and Paul aren’t able to get outside, she walks the house’s wood floors.

She still participates in the exercise class too, and feels that it has been helpful. But she tells us that having a personal relationship with God is her biggest secret to a long, healthy, active life.

While I may never be as strong as Lillie, she’s a shining example of good health and is loved by many. Happy 100th birthday, Lillie!

Lillie (Pink and white striped shirt) after exercise class