Posted: 8/10/04
Sather is Outstanding Senior; good cook too
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Marjorie Sather of Houston and Bob Meisch of Caledonia have been chosen 2004 Outstanding Senior Citizens by the Houston County Fair Board.
They were nominated for this, and then chosen on the basis of their volunteer activities after age 65 for which they received no compensation. (In order to be eligible, the nominee must be a Minnesota resident and at least 70 years old.)
This week The Argus is doing a feature story on Mrs. Sather. Next week we will feature Mr. Meisch.
They will be honored in a program at the Houston County Fair on Thursday, August 19 at 1 p.m. (Dinner is at 11:30. Register by August 17 by calling 507-725-5330.)
Marjorie Sather, 85, is one of those friendly elderly ladies that you canít help but like.
I had the good fortune to interview her last April when I interviewed her for our senior citizen edition.
Marjorie exudes warmth and confidence, and she isnít a bad cook either. I didnít get sent on my way that fine afternoon without a bag full of her darned homemade doughnuts.
(Darned because they wonít help a 51-year-old newspaper editor lose any weight.)
Back then I interviewed both Marjorie and her husband, Allen. Doing a story now on just Marjorie is hard, because she and Allen seem so closely tied together. Sixty five years of marriage will do that, but it was more than that. They are kindred spirits, and both still very much in love.
Here are some highlights from our first interview.
I asked Marjorie what the three most important things in life were. ìMy dear husband, and my family,î she said. After a pause, she added, ìAnd my farm.î
She also said that hard work never hurt anybody either.
We were sitting in the kitchen of their farmhouse on Sather Valley Road in Houston township when she said that. It was a fine April afternoon, complete with a bottomless cup of good strong Norwegian coffee and a plate of those darned doughnuts.
A blackboard on the wall before you enter the kitchen had these words written: ìLove to all who enter our home. Think good thoughts. Have a good day.î That might sum up Marjorieís outlook on life.
ìI thank the Lord every morning I get up,î Marjorie told me. ìI take one day at a time.î
Marjorie has Meniereís disease, a condition of the inner ear that causes dizziness. It has given her a bad sense of balance. ìItís just part of me,î she said. ìI just sort of ignore it.î
Sheís not a complainer, even though she has a right to be. She uses a cane when she walks, and sheís been known to whack her husband with it ñ in good fun, of course. He calls her ìa good wife that cooperates, most of the time.î
Meniereís has forced her to cut back on her visits to the nursing home in Houston, where she worked as an aide for 17 years, and to ABLE, a non-profit business that employs people with developmental disabilities. She was in the choir at Looney Valley Lutheran Church 62 years, but has quit that.
But she still stays active, making quilts and helping with clothing drives at church, and cooking those darned doughnuts. Some people even call her ìThe Doughnut Lady.î
Looney Valley Lutheran Church, which is located three miles south of their house, is a big part of her life. Before that, it was Oak Ridge Lutheran Church. Oak Ridge is located three miles west of Houston. Marjorie, the daughter of Sarah and Christian Westby, was born and raised in that neighborhood.
Oak Ridge Lutheran Church was built in 1896, and closed in 1969. When it closed, Christian Westby bought the Bible and altar cloths, which Sarah Westby, who was organist at the church, had crocheted.
The church has had a fascinating revival. It was dismantled in 1995 and moved to the Norwegian Emigrant Museum in Stange, Norway, in 1996. It was rebuilt there in 1999 and rededicated as Emigrant Memorial Church. Marjorie made sure that the church components that her parents had saved went to their new home in Norway, which is where they live now.
Married in Houston
Marjorie and Allen met at a roller skating rink in Houston. They were married on September 30, 1939 in Houston Lutheran Church in Houston.
They have four children: Richard (Marlene), 62, who lives just down the road; Karen (Dave) Moses, 58, a retired teacher who lives in Indonesia; David (Cindy), 55, who is retired from the Air Force and lives in Edmonds, Oklahoma; and Judy (Bob) Ledebuhr, 53, Rochester. They have eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Marjorie and Allen, 89, are on the go a lot. They eat out frequently at places like the Redwood Cafe in Caledonia, or Money Creek Campground, or the Winona Steakhouse. They stop to visit some elderly neighbors to make sure they are doing OK.
Their son, Rich, thinks that their socializing helps keep them young, as does their Christian faith and their work ethic.
Allen and Marjorie have traveled a lot over the years, twice to Alaska, twice to Europe, twice to Hawaii, bus tours across the United States, and on two cruises with their children.
I asked them back in April if they ever found a spot they liked better than where they live now. Allen said he asked Marjorie that very question once. ìëNo, I like it at home,í she saysî Allen recalled.
ìTheyíre going to carry me out feet first,î is how Marjorie puts it now.
Humbled and honored
I called Marjorie on August 5 to update this story, and to find out how she felt about being chosen Outstanding Senior Citizen.
She replied that she didnít know she had been chosen!
How are things going, I asked, a bit mad at myself for springing the news. ìI wake up in the morning and say ëThanks, Lord, Iím up today.î From there on I donít know,î Marjorie replied with her usual sense of humor.
All the farm is rented now, both the pasture land and work land, she added. She and Allen still go out for coffee almost every morning. Allen has his afternoon coffee in town too. ìI just like to sit in my chair and have a nap,î she said.
And how does she feel about being chosen Outstanding Senior Citizen? ìI think it would be a big honor, but there must be others too. It would be an honor to be chosen for one.î
Why Marjorie was chosen
Some of Marjorie Satherís accomplishments listed on the nomination form by The Redwood Red Hatters of Caledonia, include:
ï Mending bedding and clothing at the nursing home in Houston (and visiting there too).
ï Mending clothing and doing other jobs at ABLE.
ï Donating clothing and making quilts at church.
ï Donating food (her famous doughnuts) and working at the bloodmobile.
ï Being a member of the Redwood Red Hatters.
Bob Meisch and Marjorie will be honored in a senior citizenís program on Thursday, August 19, at 1 p.m. at the fairgrounds.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com