Merrill resident Marion Perkins celebrates her 100th birthday

On Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, longtime friends and relatives of Marion Perkins gathered with staff at Pine Crest Nursing Home in Merrill to celebrate her 100th birthday, which officially occurred on Nov. 11, 2024. Daughters Jean and Kate Perkins hosted the afternoon party which included about 50 in-person guests and started with a Zoom call to include Marion’s nieces and nephews in Tennessee and Wisconsin who were unable to travel for the party.
“Guests at the party shared memories and stories of Marion’s life,” said daughter Kate. “Many spoke of her religious faith, her devotion to friends and family, and her kindness. Some were more lighthearted and praised her excellent penmanship, her beautiful Christmas trees, and her skill at sheepshead.”
Born on Nov. 11, 1924—Armistice Day, now known as Veterans Day—Marion grew up attending Armistice Day parades on her birthday, and when she was little, her father told her the parade was for her, Kate said.
The second youngest of five children (four girls and one boy), Marion was especially close to her sister, Ruth, who was her lifelong best friend; the two shared adventures until Ruth died in 2022.
“Marion’s earliest memory is moving to Knox Mills [Wis.] from Stetsonville in 1928 when she was four [years old],” Kate said. “She remembers that her sister Ruth fell out of the car. Ruth was standing behind the front seat with the dog. The car moved suddenly, the door popped open, and Ruth fell out. Marion’s dad yelled at her mom for not watching Ruth better, but the kids [including sisters Dorothy and Adeline and brother Fred] just laughed.”
As a child, Marion loved reading, singing, and her beloved dog, Spot. “Sometimes she avoided chores by taking a book and her beloved dog Spot out to hide in the woods and read,” Kate said.
“One of her whole family’s favorite activities was singing,” she said. “Two songs they especially liked were The Prisoner’s Song and Cowboy Jack,” two ballads popular in the 1920’s. When other children were raising their hands to suggest children’s songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb to sing at school, Marion and Ruth always requested those two songs.
Marion attended a one-room schoolhouse in Knox Mills, and her first job was as janitor of the school when she was in the eighth grade. She later wrote about that experience and her story was published in Our Wisconsin magazine. Some of her schoolmates there were her dearest and lifelong friends, and Marion and her sisters helped organize several reunions with those classmates over the years.
With no high school in Knox Mills, Marion and her siblings attended high school in Prentice and boarded with families there during the week, coming home only on the weekends or school breaks. She then attended and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a teaching degree in English and American History, the only one of her siblings to go to college.
“One of the most fateful decisions of her life was accepting a teaching job in Phillips, Wis.,” Kate said. “There, in August of 1950, she met a young woodworking teacher named Art Perkins.”
“It wasn’t quite love at first sight,” she said, “But by October, they were engaged, and they married on December 30, 1950.”
Marion and Art had four children: Greg, Jean, Kate, and William, who died as an infant.
In 1962, Art accepted a job teaching Industrial Arts at Merrill Senior High School, where he taught for several years. “Marion kept house and taught future teachers at the Lincoln County Normal School, a two year teachers’ college in Merrill. This was her favorite job of all time,” Kate said. “The students shared her love of teaching and appreciated her advice on how to be a successful teacher. She also taught for a few years at St. Anne’s Catholic School.”
But Art’s heart wasn’t in teaching; he longed to farm the land, so in the mid 1960’s, the couple bought a dairy farm seven miles north of Merrill and began farming. Marion, who hadn’t learned to drive a car until she was 40 years old, learned to drive a tractor and to rake hay. She had a garden and apple trees.
Having grown up in the “very rural village” of Knox Mills, Wis., Marion “loved living in the country,” her daughters said, and is still proud of her accomplishments on the farm.
From watching the leaves on the large maple trees in their yard change color to harvesting and canning the food from her garden and apples from the trees, Marion loved it all. She also loved to bake. “She made the best apple pies, using apples from her own trees on the farm, as well as oatmeal cookies, cinnamon buns, Kringle, and fruit cake,” Kate said.
“Marion’s favorite hobby was still reading, and one of her friends at her birthday party recalled the time Marion decided to limit her reading to four books a week so she could get her chores done,” she said.
Marion also loved Christmas. She loved putting up her Christmas tree—cut from their property—and decorating her home. For many years, Art, Marion and several other couples had an annual tradition of a progressive Christmas party where they traveled to each other’s houses to admire each other’s Christmas trees, their daughter said.
The family’s roots were firmly planted in the Merrill area. Their children attended St. Francis Catholic School and all were active members of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. In later years, Marion was an active member of the Catholic Deanery’s Council of Catholic Women.
As the years went on, Marion and Art retired from farming but stayed on the property. Retirement provided them with freedom to travel, which Marion loved. Art was a World War II veteran, and the couple went on an Honor Flight to Washington DC to see all the Veterans memorials. They traveled to visit their children, as well as extended family in Arizona and Colorado, and went to Mackinac Island. Marion also enjoyed traveling with her sisters—like the time she and her sister, Adeline, went to Philadelphia and New York—and she also went to San Antonio for a conference of Catholic women.
After her husband, Art, died in 2010 at age 87, Marion built a new house on the farm property, and she lived there by herself until this past March when—at 99 years of age—she moved into Pine Crest.
But her beloved country property is still in the family. Daughters Jean and Kate now grow trees on the family farm where they once tended crops and chased cows.
Today, now 100-year-old Marion continues to enjoy life while at Pine Crest. She likes physical and occupational therapy—and works hard at it, her daughters said. She enjoys bingo, Mass, the musical activities, the friendly and caring staff, and being in Merrill where friends and family can visit often. Her daughter Jean lives in Merrill. Her daughter Kate lives in Warrenville, Ill. with her husband, Kent Archie; granddaughter Rachel Archie also lives in Warrenville; and granddaughter Madelaine Archie lives in St. Louis, Mo.; and all visit as often as they can.
What can we learn from a 100-year-old woman with all that she has seen and experienced? We asked her:
What is still on your bucket list—something you always wanted to do but haven’t yet? “Travel to London, Paris, and Rome,” Marion said. She definitely would have liked to travel more. When Marion was in her 20’s, she bought a life insurance policy that would provide a cash payout to her in her 40’s, Kate said. “She planned to travel to Europe with the money.”
But life had changed a lot during that 20-year period, and when the payout came, Marion and Art were dairy farming. Instead of a trip to Europe, Marion used the money to buy a barn cleaner. But she said she doesn’t regret that decision, because the barn cleaner made their daily chores so much easier.
What are you most proud of? While there are many things Marion accomplished during her 100 years of life, and much to be proud of, she said raising her family and keeping them healthy are her best accomplishments. Close behind is how proficient she became at farming with Art. She said she knew nothing of farming when they first began, but she learned to drive a tractor, do field work with the tractor, rake hay, milk cows, and raise calves.
What advice would you give your grandchildren? True to her nature, Marion’s advice is a mix of wisdom and practicality. “As Polonius said in Hamlet, ‘This above all: to thine own self be true ... Thou canst not then be false to any man.’ And then: Find work you enjoy because you may have to do it for a long time.”
Any advice on getting older? Accept the fact that you’re going to get older and do the best you can with what you have, Marion said.
These wise words have guided Marion throughout her first 100 years. They are good advice for us all.