Three Grand Ledge residents mark uncommon milestone as they become centenarians
GRAND LEDGE — Three women who live at a local senior care facility have been through the Great Depression and World War II, seen the first moon landing, and the age of the internet.
Now they are marking another milestone together.
Michelina DeRose, Mary Beth DiSante and Wanda Wolverton all lived less than 10 miles away in Delta Township before moving to Fairview Adult Foster Care. All of them were born within a few months of one another in 1923 and lived independently well into their 90s before they moved into the senior care facility.
This spring all three are celebrating the same milestone birthday. DiSante turned 100 years old March 4, Wolverton on April 7. DeRose will catch up with them when she celebrates 100 years on June 23.
Though the prevalence of centenarians has been steadily increasing for two decades, they remain uncommon. In 2021, there were 89,739 living in the U.S., equating to 0.27% of the country's population, according to the Boston University’s Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine-based New England Centenarian Study that has been running since 1995.
According to Faireview's owner and administrator Joseph Frazier, this is the first time three centenarians have lived together at the Hartel Road facility in its 26-year history.
"It's a milestone for us," he said.
Routines and self-reliance keys to longevity
DiSante, the first to reach centenarian status, was born in Lansing at St. Lawrence Hospital and graduated from Lansing Central High School, which eventually became part of Lansing Community College before being demolished in 2006.
She married her husband of 53 years, Nick, when she was 26. The couple lived in and around Detroit for most of their marriage, raising six children, she said.
She loved to golf and go bowling and still loves a good game of Texas gin, a card game.
DiSante moved back to Delta Township later in life, then to Fairview in 2020. While she once "bossed" her children, now they "boss" her, she said.
Now with four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, — and one on the way — there's something to look forward to, she said.
"One's going to be born pretty soon," DiSante said. "In May."
The secret to her longevity, she said, is in her routines and self-reliance.
"I do the same thing all the time," DiSante said. She strives for as much independence as she can, despite needing more help than she used to.
"I keep busy," DiSante said. "I like to do things for myself. I don't feel like a 100-year-old."
'I think she's going to make this milestone'
Originally from Vickeryville, west of Carson City, Wolverton lived in Delta Township for about 40 years after her husband Jake died in 1979, said her daughter Patti Kares, 73. They were married for nearly 40 years, she said.
"She was valedictorian of her high school class," Kares said, then spent several decades working for the state of Michigan in different departments.
"She was a very hard worker, she's funny, she's outgoing," Kares said of her mother, who has always prioritized being well-dressed and socializing. Wolverton went bowling with the 39ers, a local senior citizen group, twice a week through 2015 and lived alone until 2017, said daughter-in-law Dana Wolverton, 66.
Her longevity is no longer surprising to her family, Kares said.
"When she hit 90 and 95 I thought, 'I think she's going to make this milestone.'"
Wolverton's family celebrated her birthday earlier this month.
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Longevity no surprise to loved ones
DeRose's longevity shouldn't surprise anyone who knows her, said her sister Patricia Lewis, 80.
"She was always super independent," she said.
An educator who spent about three decades teaching business at Eastern High School in Lansing before she retired in her late 60s, DeRose, a Leslie High School graduate, earned a bachelor's degree at Siena Heights University and a master's degree from Michigan State University.
She traveled extensively over the years, making three trips to Europe, spending lots of time with friends and volunteering at St. Gerard Catholic Church in Lansing.
"She went to church every day when she could, and lived in her condo and by herself until she was 98," Lewis said.
Her home was near DiSante's when the two women lived in Delta Township, though they didn't know one another then.
"When she first moved in a couple of years ago we would play cards together. We'd get two other residents to play with us and she was usually a card shark," Frazier said.
Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Three women turn 100 at Grand Ledge senior care facility
