300 years of memories
BIGFORK -- Maggie Pontius remembers driving her family’s 1914 Robin’s Egg blue Buick past Pasadena City College during the Great Depression.
“And, boy, did I get the cat calls,” said the 103-year-old Lake View Healthcare Community resident.
Maggie is one of three centenarians living at the Bigfork facility above the Bigfork High School football stadium. Lake View hosted four centenarians until recently. Maggie, who is known by family and Lake View attendants as a wit, still flashes her satiric one liners.
“I was always the one who was stuck being the funny girl,” she said.
When asked how it felt to turn 103 she said, “The same as it felt to turn 102.” When asked what her secret to longevity is, she said, “Just keep breathing.”
She remembers growing up during the Great Depression and, even if Pasadena wasn’t as impacted as the Midwest, times were tough.
“You couldn’t get just what you wanted During (The Depression) and World War II,” she said. “The shopkeepers couldn’t get everything.”
Things were so tight, she said one of her best Christmas presents was sugared figs.
Another childhood highlight was watching the Rose Parade.
“My dad and I walked up to Green Street to Orange (street) and we could see about half of the parade,” she said. “We did that until it dawned on us that we could sit on our church steps and watch the parade without all that walking.”
Lake View’s Centenarian Club
Maggie Pontius Born 4-5-1914 (103 yo) Pasadena CA Married to Tim for 38 years Daughter Luella Dixon lives in Ferndale
Gola Dynneson Born 1-11-1916 (101 yo) Marion, ND One of nine children Played basketball Gola and her husband of 55 years, Lawrence, built a mission in Nogales, Ariz. They had four children. Lois lives in Bigfork.
Lois Reed Born 1-22-1917 (100 yo) Seattle WA Married husband Lester on Valentine’s Day 1942. Daughter Shelia lives in Bigfork
