By Elizabeth Cloutman

Pilgrim Haven’s Gertrude Koehler shows her sparkle on July 4th birthday

One hundred years ago, Gertrude Koehler was “born on the Fourth of July,” just as in the George M. Cohan song, “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Also like the song -which was written four years after she was born - the passing years haven’t affected her cheerful spirit and enthusiasm. A petite woman with snow-white hair and bright eyes, she has a ready smile and a friendly manner, and remains clearly interested in life around her. The Pilgrim Haven resident has also retained a lively sense of humor.

“I feel ancient. I never thought I’d reach this point,” she said, laughing. “I enjoy watching TV, Chinese food, being outdoors, flowering trees and cloud-watching. My greatest joy is seeing my great-grandchildren and my family.”

The Minnesota native’s family includes her son and daughter-in-law, Keith and Ruth Koehler of Los Altos; grandson, Steve and his wife, Kathy, and their sons, Danny and Derek, also of Los Altos; grandson Jack, his wife, Kristin, and their daughter, Katie, of Jackson, Wyo.; and grandson Jim and his wife, Elizabeth, of Boulder, Colo.

Gertrude’s husband, Lawrence, died in 1982, after 59 years of marriage. The two met in 1912 as sixth-grade classmates in a four-room school in tiny Mound, Minn., where Gertrude’s family had moved from Minneapolis.

“The 25-mile trip (to Mound) took nine hours by horse and buggy,” she said. “(Lawrence) made 59 years happier for me because he was my husband.”

All of her close-knit family were there to help her celebrate her birthday week - except, noted 5 year-old Katie, “Kirby, the dog, was home.” The celebration took two days.

On July 3, the family gathered to present Koehler with a bound copy of her memoirs, which she had written over the last twelve years. Koehler said she has always loved to write. In addition to her memoirs, over the years, she’s also written Sunday school lessons and a column, “Campus Wanderings” for the Pilgrim Haven newsletter since she first moved there in 1988.

“Once they (Pilgrim Haven management) found out I could write, I’d write a little about everything,” she said. “”I’d wander about and write about the things I saw. I’d concentrate on a certain thing.”

The family also presented her with a personalized handmade quilt, with each square representing an event in her life, the gift of a younger cousin.

On July 4, Koehler had a second celebration. At the Glorious Fourth celebration in Shoup Park, Ye Olde Towne Band and everyone present serenaded her with “Happy Birthday.” “She stood up out of her wheelchair and waved at the crowd,” said her daughter-in-law, Ruth.

Following the Glorious Fourth event, Koehler’s family held a birthday reception in Pilgrim Haven’s Fellowship Hall. “Over 100 people came,” Ruth said. “All the great-grandchildren served the cake and punch. At the party, she remarked ‘How wonderful it’s been.’”

Ruth added, with a laugh, that her mother-in-law was tired after all the celebration.

Ruth said Koehler had moved to Pilgrim Haven from Glendale in 1988. Until 1998, when she broke her hip, she was able to live in an independent-living apartment on the Pilgrim Haven campus.

“It’s been very beneficial for her to live in Pilgrim Haven,” Ruth said. “She had a whole set of new friends (there). Her friends in Glendale had been dwindling away. She still has lots of friends from the independent-living apartments who still visit her.”

Koehler observed the world moves a lot faster than when she was younger. “Things were more stable then,” she said, but she treasures all of her life.

Four years ago, she wrote in her memoirs.

“Now, at the age of 97, my life is filled with grace. So many good things have happened in my life. Perhaps the most overwhelming of all is the feeling of being loved, and of my love being reciprocated. … I have never felt it was withheld. There have been several times in my life when I was very close to danger. God rescued me at the right moment. Another manifestation of grace in my life is good health. … I am a very lucky person to have had … years of grace and unearned rewards.”