By Ben Sutherly, Staff Writer
DAYTON, Ohio (Dayton Daily News), March 3, 2008:
Doris Jean Brown is 87, but still gets lectured by her mother.
Brown, who visits Sylvia Utz in Greenville twice a year, said she walked into her mother's room at the Brethren Retirement Community a couple years ago and was told, "Your dress is too short."
Brown, who lives in Phoenix and is one of Utz's two surviving children, said her dress fell below the knee.
Born on March 9, 1899, Utz is one of few worldwide born in the 19th century but still alive.
Just six days away from her 109th birthday, she's not the first in her family to near such a remarkable milestone. Her sister, Delcie Cress, died at age 109 in 1998.
Utz has wondered at times about her longevity, especially after the death of her younger son, Emerson. Her father was 79 when he died. Her mother was 53, and Utz admits that as a young woman, she had thought that was old. Now she's more than twice that age.
She is thankful for her good health: "I don't have an ache or a pain." With the help of a magnifying glass, she reads Guideposts magazine in large print, and still works crossword puzzles. She makes her bed each morning.
"My legs don't hurt, but they're weak," she said. She still walks, but often uses a wheelchair at the Brethren Retirement Community. "I'm a person who won't ask other people to help me."
John Warner, president and CEO of the retirement community, said Utz is the oldest of nine centenarians at the facility, home to 460 residents.
"Sylvia is a very kind and gracious lady," Warner said. "She has a quick wit, and she has many friends here that she's developed during the 10 years she's been at our facility. ... Sylvia is an inspiration not only because of her age, but because of who she is."
Growing up on a Darke County farm, Utz's family had a horse and buggy, but no electricity or running water. They lived a self-sufficient life, raising most of their own food. She attended a two-room brick school through the eighth grade.
Utz sought to pass on that independence to her children. She and her husband, Harley, raised their family on a small Darke County farm during the Great Depression after living in Rochester, N.Y., and Chicago while he worked for General Motors.
"I said Chicago is no place to raise children," she said.
Utz sees her upcoming birthday as no big deal. "I don't pay any attention to them," she said.
Was married for over 83 years
Sylvia Utz, a resident of the Brethren Retirement Center in Greenville, will be turning 109 on March 9.
She is seated underneath a plaque showing her mention in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2000 for her marriage of 82 years to husband Harley, whose photo is seen on the center of the table. Photo: Jim Witmer
She's far more proud of her 83½ years of marriage to Harley, who died in November 2001 at age 103.
She has a framed certificate from the Guinness World Records to prove it.
Together, they traveled to 10 countries and every state but Alaska.
"Give and take," is her marriage advice. "You can't run to Mother every time something happens. Work it out."
Utz had five grandchildren, of whom three are living; seven great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren.
"Live a good Christian life," is her advice to others. And her advice to future centenarians: "Do the best they can."
Copyright © 2008 Cox Ohio Publishing
