2 celebrate a century of Christmas Days
Dec. 25—Birthdays near Christmas Day often don't double the fun for the people who celebrate them, but for Esther Misterek and Edna Magnuson, this year's holiday has a more than a little special meaning.
The two residents of Fellowship Square-Mesa, an independent and assisted living facility in East Mesa, will celebrate their 100th birthday within three days of each other.
Esther officially marks a century today, Dec. 25, and Edna will join the ranks of centenarians three days from now.
Misterek was never all that enthusiastic about being born on Dec. 25.
"I wasn't too eager about that 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy Birthday' because all my friends had birthday parties and Christmas parties and I only had the one," Esther said.
In 1922, she was kind of God's Christmas present to her family, having been born at 4 a.m. in Delmont, South Dakota, as the youngest of seven children whose father owned a hardware store in the town of 250 people.
Her family lived on the edge of town and Esther fondly remembers Delmont for its people, who all went a little crazy over celebrity entertainer Lawrence Welk, a native of Strasburg, North Dakota, a four-hour drive from Delmont.
"Even the matriarchs of the families who did not allow their kids to dance — they even broke down under the influence of Lawrence Welk."
Growing up, Esther dreamed of becoming veterinarian, mainly from helping on her family's farm and watching little animals not receive the same care as bigger critters.
"The big animals were taken care of very well by the veterinarians," she said. "But the little animals were just sort of left for themselves and I wanted to take care of them."
She always handled litters of cats that lived in the family's barn and also briefly took care of a couple small dogs that weren't suited for hunting with her brothers until her dad found homes for them.
Esther also considered a nursing program but eventually enrolled in medical technology program in Kansas City, Missouri. After graduation, she started work in a clinical laboratory, eventually becoming the head technician.
In 1942, Esther joined the Navy because she "loved those Navy-blue uniforms." With her experience, she worked in the clinical laboratory in the Navy and served in upstate New York and Hawaii.
After the Navy, Misterek applied for veterinary school but was ignored by them, even the one that sent "the nicest letter."
"They were not admitting any women because there were too many men coming out of the service who wanted to be veterinarians, so they were only accepting men applicants," Esther explained.
With most of her credits from her med tech school, she earned a degree in zoology from the University of Washington in 1950 and started work at a new Veteran's Administration hospital in Seattle, Washington.
She spent a number of years there until she retired in 1980, moving to Arizona for the weather.
Esther said she neither married nor had children because she remained pretty busy with her career.
"I guess I never met the right guy, or if I did, I didn't have time to realize it," she said.
Edna was born on Dec. 28, 1922 and, like Esther, was none too eager for the holidays because her presents pulled double duty.
That was until she had children of her own.
"My daughter's been pretty good about giving me a birthday present too because I've complained about it so much," she said.
Born in Denver, Missouri, Edna grew up on a farm with many responsibilities, like tending chickens, milking cows, and washing the milk separator.
"Every person had their chore to do and the rest of us saw that they did them too," she said.
She lived with her aunt when she attended high school in nearby Grant City, Missouri, because buses didn't run the 13 miles to her family's farm.
Edna spent much of her life as a homemaker though she spent 15 years working in a factory manufacturing automobile and airplane parts.
Most of the time, though, she was focused on raising her four children, who gave her eight grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
Edna spent much of her life traveling with her husband Johnnie after he retired as a truck driver for Standard Oil.
The couple bought an RV and traveled all over North America, making an annual pilgrimage from Iowa to Arizona.
After her husband passed away, Edna moved to Arizona in 1995.
"I wasn't going to manage a home here and a home back there," Edna said.
The most memorable moment in her life came at the ripe age of 85, when she went skydiving with her daughter in Oregon.
"Well, I've always liked a thrill and that is the biggest thrill of all," she said.
Edna moved to Fellowship Square in 2014 and met Esther four years later.
They quickly became friends and live down the hall from each other, enjoying each other's daily company and having dinner together.
This year, the two centenarians will each enjoy two birthday parties — one with their neighbors on their floor at Fellowship Square and the other with their relatives on their respective birthdays.
Edna is philosophical about her longevity, musing, "I don't know why I'm hanging around here so long but I guess there must be some reason."
