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Irma
Fisher Ferguson, 104
“Like
Mother, Like Daughter” |
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Irma Fisher Ferguson has special bragging
rights – both she and her mother have lived
to age 102! Irma will be celebrating her
104th birthday on May 13 with the annual
event begun by her family on her 100th of
celebrating Mother’s Day along with her
birthday. From her daughters to great-great
grandchildren, family members will be coming
from many states to celebrate the beloved
matriarch of their family.
What is so unique, is that Irma gave
her mother, Rachel Fisher, a 100th, 101st
and 102nd birthday party with family and
friends beginning in 1968. “Things were
more subdued then,” she recalls; "there
wasn’t such a big occasion. But the whole
town was impressed, of course, and happy for
her. We had the party at home, with about
84 family – ranging from her children to
great-grandchildren - and friends, and
served coffee and punch. But we did have a
special cake – it was two tiers with 100
candles! That was something to see. I
never thought about living to be 100 myself,
but it’s wonderful! I feel fine.” |
Irma Fisher Ferguson celebrates her
104th birthday on May 13th. Happy
Birthday!
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She said her mother was in good health, as
well, and also enjoyed her longevity. In
1969, Rachel was Queen of the Grand
Junction, Iowa, Centennial Parade – and she
was one year older than the town!
Irma's mother, Rachel
Irma’s mother, Rachel Svandahl, was
born on a farm in Norway on August 16, 1868,
one of seven children. After completing the
eighth grade at the age of 14, she was sent
to another town to work as a maid in a
household and was not able to return to
visit her family for 10 years. Irma tells
that her mother’s “golden opportunity” came
when an uncle living in America sent $48.00
for her passage on the condition that she
help his family during his wife’s illness.
He promised that when his circumstances
improved, he would find her a good job, and
thus Rachel arrived in Cambridge, Iowa, in
November 1892. She spoke no English, but
began learning from the children she cared
for when her uncle placed her with a
prominent family in Des Moines, and then by
translating her Bible. Her uncle also
introduced her to her future husband, the
son of Norwegian immigrants; they married
two years to the day of her arrival in
Iowa. Rachel loved America so much that she
encouraged her sisters to join her and soon
three of them did.
Rachel and Carl lived on a farm near
Grand Junction, Iowa, all their lives and
raised seven children. When one of their
daughters died in childbirth, they adopted
their granddaughter, who was only two days
old and later lived with Rachel with her two
children for several years. And thus
Rachel’s life was centered on her family.
“Just think,” one of her descendants
remarked: "If she hadn’t taken the
opportunity to come to America none of this
would have happened in Iowa. We have
relatives now all over the U.S.”
Irma story:
Irma was Rachel’s fifth child, born
on May 13, 1905. One of her childhood
memories was that her mother would serve one
chicken for the entire family dinner; each
was assigned a part of the bird – Irma’s was
a wing. At the age of seven, she was
afflicted with polio, a potentially life
threatening disease. She never let it stop
her, although she always walked with a limp
and had to buy two different size shoes all
her life because of her impairment. It did
make her shy, she believes; nonetheless, she
graduated from high school at the age of 16
and was salutatorian of her class. She
attended college for a year, before marrying
W. D. (Spike) Ferguson on April 19, 1923. |
Spike was a partner in Ferguson-Diehl
Construction Company and the early years of
their marriage were marked with the birth of
three daughters, after which Irma began
helping her husband build his business.
Her youngest daughter, Carla, recalls those
years.
“Mother worked so hard, and yet she
never complained. She would state facts,
but never complain the way some people do.
She still doesn’t. In the summers, the
family would leave their home in Jefferson,
Iowa, and travel to various construction
sites and gravel pits where Spike would have
road construction contracts. Since there
weren’t restaurants or hotels available,
Irma would cook all the meals for the crew,
traveling each day into the nearest town to
buy fresh meat and supplies and then
preparing the food in a small trailer, while
tending to her young children at the same
time. At night they had a sleeping
trailer. Every couple of weeks she would
drive back to their home to do the laundry."
This went on for years, and Spike’s
business grew and prospered. During WWII he
obtained a contract to work on building part
of the Alcan Highway in Alaska, taking half
the men in town with him to work on the
project. Irma stayed at home and
concentrated her efforts on sending as many
supplies and clothing as she could to family
members in Norway.
After the war, Irma and Spike began
to travel and enjoy the fruits of an
extended trip to Europe to visit relatives
in Norway, other countries, a cruise to
Hawaii in the mid-60s and then established a
winter home, first in Scottsdale and later
in Mesa, Arizona, where they purchased a
mobile home in an active retirement
community. “It was a nice place to be,”
Irma says, “to get out of the cold.” And so
all the hard work of their early years paid
off. The couple celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary in 1973, hosted by their
children and also attended by a large
gathering of family and friends – this time
almost 150.
So it’s no surprise to Irma that she
will again be feted for her 104th with a
large gathering of her descendents.
“There are so many now, I have to write them
down to remember which of the six
great-great-grandchildren belongs to whom!”
Over the past 28 years that she has been a
widow, Irma has enjoyed playing bridge, but
primarily reading, indulging her love for
books – sometimes two or three a week, she
admits. She also reads the Des Moines
Register and several magazines,
subscriptions to which she requests for her
birthday gifts. For her 100th celebration,
she requested two parties – one for family
and one for friends – “there were too many
people to have them all together.” What a
delight and tribute to this wonderful
inspiration of surviving and thriving, not
only polio. Irma had a kidney removed and
has lived for the past 40 years with only
one.
Beginning with her 100th, the family
made a story board of her life, which Irma
treasures and has made a permanent fixture
on her wall. Her granddaughters keep it
updated each year with new additions and
activities of them all. Irma’s favorite
photo, though, is that of her and her mother
and father and younger brother Raymond, with
whom she was especially close. At 100, she
was caring for him during his last year.
Irma takes after her mother in many ways, in
addition to their shared longevity. Rachel
remained a hard working, active woman well
into her nineties and always had a vegetable
garden and canned fresh vegetables for the
family. They also had grape vines and her
mother would make grape juice when they were
children; once a year she would make a grape
pie for her husband. These and so many more
are the memories she treasures and has so
many stories she has shared and continues to
do so with her family. “It seems there’s
always something new to learn of her life,”
her granddaughter Sue remarks.
Now it’s time for Irma to be cared
for and her devoted family is seeing to it
that she is. Recently, on a visit to her
granddaughter’s home, she was delighted to
see one of her most prized possessions being
used by the family. Casting her memory back
many, many years, Irma tells the story that
her mother had saved a little money while
working for the family in Des Moines and
wanted to buy something special and lasting
for her marriage. She consulted the lady of
the house for whom she worked, who suggested
she purchase a set of 6 silver teaspoons.
They became keepsakes for her daughters and
now in daily use as a jelly spoon in her
granddaughter’s busy family. Irma was very
moved seeing this memento of her mother and
remembering her care and devotion to her
family.
“We’re looking forward to her 104th
celebration,” daughter Carla says. Each
year we take a banquet room at a nice hotel
and decorate it and line it with photos of
all the family. We have a grand time.”
Since Irma’s favorite is angel food cake,
this is the platform for the 100 plus
candles each birthday. As a surprise, her
daughter and granddaughter have bought her a
new outfit for this year’s celebration of
Mother’s Day and her birthday – a brightly
colored flowered dress and “hot pink”
jacket.
When asked how she feels about being
104, Irma said, “I feel fine. I never
thought about living to 100, but it’s
wonderful! Who wouldn’t want to live to
100!"
Carla adds that her mother is very
calm and even tempered and takes everything
in stride. “She’s not demanding – she’s
very accepting.”
Happy Birthday, Irma – and Happy
Mother’s Day. |
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Respecting the privacy of this centenarian
and all centenarians on our website, we ask
all media (or other businesses) to please
direct inquiries to Lynn Adler:
adler@ncap100s.org. |
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