Minnesota's Oldest Person Celebrates 111th Birthday
ST. ANTHONY, Minn. (WCCO) -- It's official: The oldest person in Minnesota is 111 years old.
Evelyn Kleine celebrated her second golden birthday on Wednesday. She is 111 on July 11.
Evelyn and her great-niece, Joanie, have been singing this song for years. Years are something Evelyn has more of than any other Minnesotan.
And for that, she is being properly celebrated with a huge party at her assisted living home, Chandler Place. She addressed the crowd, dressed in a corsage and bright purple shirt.
"Thank you everyone for coming and feting me so wonderfully, I just don't know what to say," she said.
And no other Minnesotan has as much to tell. She was born in 1907 in Columbia Heights. Married in 1932, she lost two husbands along the way.
She didn't birth children, but she did create so much love. Her great-nice, Joanie Anderson explains, "Evelyn is my Grandma's sister and my Grandma and my Dad have passed away and so we are just very, very close."
Joanie is a regular visitor at the assisted living home. Evelyn, a lifelong seamstress, lived on her own until she was 104. She takes exercise classes, only takes one (water) pill, plays Bingo and still knows how to win.
"I just played cribbage with her and she skunked me," Joanie said.
She's never smoked, or drank, but she does sometimes indulge.
"I like ice cream, I'd be lost without it," Evelyn said.
Evelyn Kleine has been making Minnesota nicer for 111 years.
- Evelyn was 4 when the Titanic sank!
- When she turned 21 - prohibition was in place!
- When a man walked on the moon - she was 51.
- And when 9-11 happened, she was 94!
Evelyn Kleine is living history.
