Utah
‘Utah’s most exclusive club’: Honoring the state’s 145 centenarians
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WEST JORDAN — Florence “Floss” Turnbow was born the same year that Time magazine printed its first issue, Coca-Cola began selling six-packs of cola and the Soviet Union was founded.
That year, 1923, was also the year that a Southern California real estate company erected a 50-foot high “Hollywoodland” sign to promote a new development near the hills in Los Angeles. The sign was initially meant to be temporary, but it’s still standing 100 years later.
And so is Turnbow. Although she hasn’t officially joined the centenarian club — Turnbow will celebrate her 100th birthday Sept. 3 — she was celebrated Thursday at the 35th annual statewide centenarian celebration at the Viridian Event Center, put on by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services Division of Aging and Adult Services, along with the governor’s office.
For Turnbow, who lived most of her life in Tabiona, Duchesne County, the secret to achieving a long life is pretty simple.
“Just work. I’ve worked all my life,” she said, when asked for advice on living long.
And she has worked. By her own account she has sewn more than 6,000 Lone Star quilts, many of which were sold around the world through Mormon Handicraft. She said her quilts have ended up in the homes of more than a few celebrities, including Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone, actress Cicely Tyson and a leader of Iran.
As part of the annual tradition that dates back to 1987 and former Gov. Norman Bangerter, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox addressed the centenarians and their families at a luncheon before talking briefly with each of them.
You are part of Utah’s most exclusive club, and we are so proud to have the opportunity to honor you today. … You have so much life and so much wisdom to share with us, and the world is a better place because of you.
–Gov. Spencer Cox
“(First Lady Abby Cox) and I look forward to this event every year, just to be around you remarkable citizens,” he said. “You are part of Utah’s most exclusive club, and we are so proud to have the opportunity to honor you today. … You have so much life and so much wisdom to share with us, and the world is a better place because of you. And, quite frankly, the world needs more of you and your wisdom right now.”
Although not all could attend Thursday, Utah has 145 centenarians, as of June, including a few who will turn 100 in the near future. The oldest members of the club are 112-year-old Ted Wells, born in Orem in September 1910, and 111-year-old Alice Bennett, born in Salt Lake City in May 1911.
Cox spoke of the life experience collected by the 145 Utahns, specifically those who served in World War II. One of those was Eugene “Gene” Burton Hecker, 103, who served as a Navy radar technician in the Pacific Theater.
That was in the early days of radar use, and the new technology helped spark a lifetime interest in invention that still keeps Hecker’s mind busy today. He is currently working to come up with a way to fight forest fires using drones and halogen gas.
“In the early days, when the settlers came here, they formed a bucket brigade where they’d pass a bucket of water and throw it on the fire to drown it,” he said. “We haven’t had any improvement in fire fighting since then.”
Hecker’s active mind is to thank for his longevity, according to his stepson, but Hecker has a simpler solution: “How to do it? Wake up breathing every morning.”
Wayne Clayson, 102, who has lived in the same Ogden house for the past 67 years, said his advice is to not sweat the small stuff.
“You better not take life too seriously, and just take the good with the bad and roll with the punches. Just hope for good family, good people that will help you along,” Clayson said. “And have a good partner — that’s the big thing.”
Family has also been a key part of life for Eugene “Gene” England, who, at 103, was one of the oldest men in attendance Thursday.
“There’s been so much good that I’ve seen in life,” he said. “I had six sons that I loved so much, and they’ve all had wonderful families and I love them all.”