Holton resident Vivian Venneberg celebrates 100th birthday
Vivian Venneberg of Holton says she’s happy to have led “a quiet life,” and at 100 years of age, she still takes things one day at a time.
“That’s all you can do,” said Venneberg, who became a centenarian on Thursday.
But as her caretakers at Medicalodges Jackson County noted, Venneberg still maintains a sense of humor. When asked how it feels to be 100 years old, she joked, “no different than it did at 99!”
Born Vivian Inez Graff on July 28, 1916, on the family ranch near the north central Nebraska community of Johnstown, Venneberg moved with her family to Havensville when she was six years old. She attended school at Havensville but didn’t have any major plans after graduating.
“My dad ran the elevator at Corning, so we moved to Corning in 1935 and I helped him out,” she said.
She met Paul Charles Venneberg, and in 1937, they began a 54-year journey through married life. The Vennebergs moved to a farm southeast of Havensville near Buck’s Grove, she said, where they raised a son, Paul Edwin.
“We farmed and had a few cattle, hogs occasionally and chickens,” she said. “I did some sewing on the side. It was a very quiet life.”
Venneberg moved into Holton after her husband died in January of 1991, but she continued to attend church at Buck’s Grove United Methodist Church, where she still makes an occasional appearance to play the piano.
In addition to playing piano and sewing, Venneberg still enjoys playing bingo with other residents at Medicalodges, where she moved in April of 2014, and keeping up with the Kansas City Royals and the University of Kansas Jayhawks. But when it comes to the former team, she said she’s a little disappointed by the slump the Royals are currently experiencing.
“I’m kind of losing interest in them,” she joked. “Somebody better teach them how to hit that ball!”
Venneberg still keeps up with the Jayhawks through news articles a friend prints off for her, and even though her eyesight is deteriorating due to macular degeneration, she’s still able to read the articles with the help of a reading device.
“It’s the only way I can read,” she said. “I’m really not an avid reader, though.”
Now that she’s reached 100, Venneberg suggested that the secret to her longevity is “no smoking, no drinking and no carousing around.” She’s also seen a lot of changes in fashions, attitudes and technology over the years, but when asked which of those changes stands out mosts to her, she replied, “I never really stopped to think about it.”
She also celebrated her 100th birthday on Thursday with a surprise party thrown by her friend and Medicalodges employee Amy Spiker, then participated in another party two days later that was thrown by her son. And even though she doesn’t have any grandchildren, she smiles when Spiker reminds her that “you’ve got all of us” at Medicalodges.
“Well, that’s a lot then, isn’t it?” Venneberg said.
