Born in Kansas, Feb. 5, 1916, former Windsor resident Marietta Showalter recently celebrated 102 years of life at her home in Healdsburg. Marietta is a dynamic centenarian who remains active today: painting, reading, nurturing her plants and attending church each Sunday.
Her home proudly showcases her art in tall glass cases. Hand-painted eggs, hand-carved horses and various painted river rocks are just some of her creations. If it’s not her artwork she’s selling in her communal home, it’s her memoir, “Marietta’s Stories” published when she was only 96.
Memories take Marietta far back to a covered wagon and forward to the Model T. If that weren’t enough, she would be among a generation of young women given the privilege to vote, thanks to the 19th Amendment passed when she was merely four.
Her childhood spoke of a simpler time in history — yet a time rapidly changing. Speakeasies were common and silent films played in movie houses. She was 16 when Amelia Earhart flew solo across the Atlantic. Eventually would come indoor plumbing, electricity and washing machines.
Marietta would live through the Great Depression which left an indelible imprint. She mastered the art of recycling before it was trendy: everything from old nylons to coffee grounds. Her motto still is, “Use it up; wear it out: make it do; or do without” (a common slogan from the Depression years).
One memorable story recounts a cold November morning in 1928. While sleeping soundly, young Marietta was awakened by her mother screaming to get out of the house. It was on fire!
Her dad had left water to simmer, but it boiled over into the kerosene stove. The kitchen ignited into a ball of flames leaving the family fleeing in their night clothes while grabbing anything they could. Marietta’s mother threw possessions out windows while her father struggled to save the family piano by pushing it with all his might out the door. The house burned to the ground. Little Marietta remembers taking refuge with kind nuns at the neighboring convent. While there she clung to the only item she had saved — a photo of her deceased baby sister.
Marietta was the only girl of five siblings. who worked hard alongside her mother during a time when children bore a lot of responsibility. However, she talks fondly of a carefree girlhood — walking a mile to school when she was five, playing with one new doll a year, watching WWI veterans march through the town square each Memorial Day, and riding “Ol’ Topsy,” the family mule.
Today, she can recall in sadness the attack on Pearl Harbor. Eventually, she witnessed the birth of high-speed airplane travel, and fire trucks that could reach a family’s burning house driving 60 miles per hour.
Marietta’s life is one of admiration and a blessing to all who know her. She has outlived two loving husbands, raised two children, and had four grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren; all still gather around large family tables to enjoy the passing holidays.
For those who grew up in her era, it was common to fetch suet (raw, hard fat of beef or mutton) from the local butcher for baking, and each holiday was a treat to indulge in “Grandma’s Suet Pudding.”
One of Marietta’s favorite quotes is, “When the conversation grows quiet and all we hear is the clink of forks on plates, it means the meal is good!”
Each soft crease in Marietta’s face gives tribute to her long life. A resourceful woman, she has not only explored her own talents but has cultivated her passions in others, from gardening to painting, music to prayer. She has gracefully helped to nourish a continuing family line of strong women — women who seek their gifts and reach for their dreams.
Marietta has planted 10 decades plus two years of seeds of courage and strength which continue to grow like hardy vines taking all who know her into various directions. At the age of 102, she continues to thrive and nurture her surroundings. Much of her long life speaks of another era, but her love, faith in God, talent and loyalty to family remain timeless.
Happy 102nd birthday, Marietta – mother, grandma, great grandma.
Heather Marshall is Marietta Showalter’s graddaughter.
