Tom Schuler, of Milwaukee, greets his grandmother, Ella Schuler, with a bouquet of pink and purple balloons on her 112th birthday Saturday at Aldersgate Village. “I love ya,” she told her family. Photo courtesy: Adrielle Harvey/The Capital Journal
Schuler said she's not quite sure how it happened but credits her longevity to hard work and a deep belief in God. And, according to her son, God may have heard her from her Topeka Methodist church. "She always sang in the service, quite badly, quite loudly," Bob Schuler joked.
When asked if she had any secrets, she said she didn't think so. "Well, I think they should ask God about it," she said. "I don't know anything about it. I eat with him, sleep with him, and work with him, and I don't know how it happened."
Born Ella Winkelmann on September 5, 1897, in Fontenelle, NE, Schuler was the fourth child of German-immigrant parents. She said she grew up working on the family farm, often plowing, cultivating, and discing the dirt. She married John Cecil Schuler in 1923, and the couple had three sons. Bob Schuler, her only surviving son, describes his mother as someone who always believed in education, travel, religion and treating others kindly.
She was a science enthusiast who frequently read National Geographic and Scientific American. She also was faithful about reading her Bible, and attended a Topeka Methodist church for many years. The family opened a grocery store and meat market in Topeka after moving from western Kansas in 1934. "I did most of the work that was around there," Ella Schuler said from her home at the Aldersgate Village, an assisted living facility in Topeka.
Her husband was 83 when he died in 1983, Bob Schuler said.
Schuler has six grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.
The Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group is a nonprofit that works to educate its members on progress regarding aging theories and their long-term implications for clinical practice.[rc]
Source: KansasCity.com
September 7, 2009
USA: Hard Work, Faith in God Helped Her Reach 112th Birthday
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TOPEKA, Kansas / KansasCity.com / Associated Press / Supercentanarians / September 7, 2009
Ella Schuler celebrated her 112th birthday over the weekend with family and friends in Topeka and likely secured her place among the world's 30 oldest living people. The Gerontology Research Group's list of "Supercentenarians," people age 110 or older, ranks Schuler as the oldest resident in Kansas and just two weeks younger than Missouri's title holder, Florence Poe. The list ranks Schuler as the 15th oldest person living in the U.S., and No. 30 in the world.
Tom Schuler, of Milwaukee, greets his grandmother, Ella Schuler, with a bouquet of pink and purple balloons on her 112th birthday Saturday at Aldersgate Village. “I love ya,” she told her family. Photo courtesy: Adrielle Harvey/The Capital Journal
Schuler said she's not quite sure how it happened but credits her longevity to hard work and a deep belief in God. And, according to her son, God may have heard her from her Topeka Methodist church. "She always sang in the service, quite badly, quite loudly," Bob Schuler joked.
When asked if she had any secrets, she said she didn't think so. "Well, I think they should ask God about it," she said. "I don't know anything about it. I eat with him, sleep with him, and work with him, and I don't know how it happened."
Born Ella Winkelmann on September 5, 1897, in Fontenelle, NE, Schuler was the fourth child of German-immigrant parents. She said she grew up working on the family farm, often plowing, cultivating, and discing the dirt. She married John Cecil Schuler in 1923, and the couple had three sons. Bob Schuler, her only surviving son, describes his mother as someone who always believed in education, travel, religion and treating others kindly.
She was a science enthusiast who frequently read National Geographic and Scientific American. She also was faithful about reading her Bible, and attended a Topeka Methodist church for many years. The family opened a grocery store and meat market in Topeka after moving from western Kansas in 1934. "I did most of the work that was around there," Ella Schuler said from her home at the Aldersgate Village, an assisted living facility in Topeka.
Her husband was 83 when he died in 1983, Bob Schuler said.
Schuler has six grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.
The Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group is a nonprofit that works to educate its members on progress regarding aging theories and their long-term implications for clinical practice.[rc]
Source: KansasCity.com
Tom Schuler, of Milwaukee, greets his grandmother, Ella Schuler, with a bouquet of pink and purple balloons on her 112th birthday Saturday at Aldersgate Village. “I love ya,” she told her family. Photo courtesy: Adrielle Harvey/The Capital Journal
Schuler said she's not quite sure how it happened but credits her longevity to hard work and a deep belief in God. And, according to her son, God may have heard her from her Topeka Methodist church. "She always sang in the service, quite badly, quite loudly," Bob Schuler joked.
When asked if she had any secrets, she said she didn't think so. "Well, I think they should ask God about it," she said. "I don't know anything about it. I eat with him, sleep with him, and work with him, and I don't know how it happened."
Born Ella Winkelmann on September 5, 1897, in Fontenelle, NE, Schuler was the fourth child of German-immigrant parents. She said she grew up working on the family farm, often plowing, cultivating, and discing the dirt. She married John Cecil Schuler in 1923, and the couple had three sons. Bob Schuler, her only surviving son, describes his mother as someone who always believed in education, travel, religion and treating others kindly.
She was a science enthusiast who frequently read National Geographic and Scientific American. She also was faithful about reading her Bible, and attended a Topeka Methodist church for many years. The family opened a grocery store and meat market in Topeka after moving from western Kansas in 1934. "I did most of the work that was around there," Ella Schuler said from her home at the Aldersgate Village, an assisted living facility in Topeka.
Her husband was 83 when he died in 1983, Bob Schuler said.
Schuler has six grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.
The Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group is a nonprofit that works to educate its members on progress regarding aging theories and their long-term implications for clinical practice.[rc]
Source: KansasCity.com
