{"id":48073,"date":"2015-06-25T20:41:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T00:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/?p=48073"},"modified":"2015-06-25T20:41:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-26T00:41:51","slug":"random-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/random-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"zilz2th\"Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe celebrates 100th birthday of oldest living member<\/p>\n

by Rhonda Dedyne, The Morning Sun<\/p>\n

Mary Zilz has a zest for life.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s readily apparent in the sparkling eyes, quick wit and soft laughter of the lovely lady who\u2019s celebrating her 100th birthday June 18 \u2013 making the centenarian the oldest living member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been many joys and sorrows in those years, but the Lord has always been good to me,\u201d Mary (Monnie) says about her experiences so far in a life that\u2019s still not complete.<\/p>\n

Mary\u2019s journey began on the family\u2019s farm near Rosebush where she was the second child born to Jennie May Pelcher, \u201ca full-blooded Chippewa,\u201d and Obadiah Burt Smith of Dutch-Irish descent who was a blacksmith.<\/p>\n

Happy memories of her early years revolve around time spent playing outdoors and doing chores, like helping tap maple trees and collect sap that was transformed into maple syrup, and playing in the straw stacks in wheat fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent a lot of time at my grandma and grandpa Pelcher\u2019s,\u201d Mary recalls of her maternal grandparents, Moses and Maria (Peters) Pelcher. \u201cGrandpa was a farmer and a minister at the North Branch Indian Church giving sermons in the Chippewa native language and English, and my mom and grandma sang in the choir. I still sometimes sing songs like \u2018Just as I Am\u2019 in Chippewa – they are soft and melodious and have a different rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"zilz2\"<\/p>\n

Music continues to be an important part of Mary\u2019s daily routine. A self-taught pianist, she took lessons to learn how to play the Lowrey organ that\u2019s a fixture in her living room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI play for my own enjoyment, and enjoy songs from the 1930s and \u201840s by Glenn Miller and other bands that have so much harmony,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While Mary prefers those wonderful tunes from another era, she\u2019s definitely not stalled in the past, staying up-to-date on current trends and issues helps keep her mentally and physically active and engaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur family has so much in common and there\u2019s no generation gap for me – I don\u2019t feel like a great-great-grandma,\u201d Mary laughingly says about her personal \u201ctribe\u201d that includes 11 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 17 great-great-grandchildren. \u201cSometimes when people get older they get so rigid and set in their ways. I enjoy talking with these young kids \u2013 it\u2019s interesting to hear their ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life-long learning is a principle established by her parents, Mary says. She remembers walking to school as a 5-year-old with her brothers, and later attending Mt. Pleasant Indian School from fifth through ninth grades where she graduated as valedictorian in 1930.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom and dad wanted to make sure all their children had a good education, and I always enjoyed school,\u201d Mary says. \u201cAfter Indian School, I went to the public high school in Mt. Pleasant where I played baritone in the marching band and was part of the Girls Athletic Association. I graduated in 1933 and was determined to make a success of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up during the Depression years helped fuel Mary\u2019s career ambitions. \u201cThe Depression was hard on everyone; we were all in the same boat,\u201d she says, noting that the assistance of an uncle helped her secure her first job at Postem in Battle Creek which led to an even more important chapter in her life story.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I met my first husband, Robert Mullen, and we were married three years later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorrow was intermingled with the young couple\u2019s joy when crib death claimed the life of their first-born child, Robert Jr., at age three months. Two daughters, Mary Ann and Nannette, helped ease the loss and the family enjoyed happy years together until Robert suffered a heart attack and died in 1952.<\/p>\n

Mary says her faith in God and trust in His will sustained her in subsequent years that have included plenty of ups and downs: working as a cosmetologist, and owning three beauty salons in the Lansing area from 1944-1974; a happy marriage to her second husband, Carl Zilz, in 1955, and the sadness of his death from cancer in 1991; and the death of her daughter, Nannette, to cancer in 1989.<\/p>\n

\u201cI praise the Lord for all He\u2019s allowed me to have and do through the years,\u201d she says, citing her own survival of a heart attack – at the young age of 90 – as one of those blessings. \u201cSince having heart surgery, I don\u2019t travel as much as I used to, but I still am able to spend part of each year in Florida. I read a lot and do crossword puzzles, and enjoy being with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary Ann, who lives in an adjoining duplex to her mother, is an important part of the family equation.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe looks after me, and I look after her,\u201d Mary says about their close bond as her daughter nods in agreement, displaying the same wry smile as her mother\u2019s. \u201cI have a wonderful family and we enjoy each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

That will certainly be the case June 28 when Mary\u2019s family and friends convene to celebrate her big birthday. What was supposed to be a surprise turned out differently, thanks to Mary\u2019s keen eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, there was something about it in our church bulletin and I read that, but I don\u2019t know exactly what they have planned,\u201d she says smiling once more. \u201cI know we will have a fun time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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