100th BirthdayAs Eva Lewis and Maxine Rohlfs sat hand-in-hand in the front lounge of Hope Landing assisted living facility in Charlotte, they remarked at all of the attention they seemed to be getting recently.
“I think it’s silly,” Lewis said. “I don’t see the need for all of the fuss.”
“I don’t know why we’re different than anyone else,” Rohlfs said.
There is, however, one big difference that sets the two apart — they will both turn 100 years old this month.
Rolhfs 100th birthday is Saturday, May 16, while Lewis celebrates her 100th birthday just days later on Tuesday, May 19. Both will be the guests of honor at a special celebration at Hope Landing on May 16.
“If they like a party, that’s fine with me,” Lewis said. “I’m not really the partying kind.”
That hasn’t always been the case. Lewis said she has always enjoyed playing games with friends and family.
“I liked to join in the fun,” she said.
She still takes part in regular activities at Hope Landing. Her real passion though, was always taking care of her home.
“She was always a very artistic person in terms of her home,” said Aggie Lewis, Eva’s daughter-in-law. “The furniture in her home was always in a different place every time I came over. The pictures were always different. She was always dressed to the nines … just a very classy lady.”
Ron Rohlfs said his mother instilled strong values within each of her four sons. She worked with the Eaton County Juvenile court for 24 years and would often tell her sons she had to keep her good name with the judge.
“She would always hold that over our heads,” Ron joked. “She would say, ‘what would it look like if any of my kids were juvenile delinquents.’”
Her boys — Bill, Dick, Bob and Ron — stayed on the straight and narrow, each earning their Eagle Scout rank.
“She instilled a good work ethic, taught us be good fathers … trustworthy and honest,” Ron said.
Aggie Lewis said Eva and her only child, John, were very close. Eva moved to Hope Landing from Allegan three years ago to be closer to her son and his family.