Minnie Herman hits 104, keeps moving forward

Dorothy expressed admiration for her aunt’s vitality — she recalled that Minnie has only visited the hospital three times in her life, and never to give birth.

Minnie stays active to this day, walking nearly a mile per day in laps around the building, aided by her trusty mobility walker.

Because she suffers from macular degeneration, she uses stuffed animals as signposts to guide her back to her room. An Easter bunny marks the end of her hall, and a floppy eared dog hangs from her door, welcoming her home.

Minnie can’t see well enough to crochet, solve crosswords or watch television (her previous interests) anymore. But her hearing and general mobility are more robust. She enjoys having the newspaper read to her, listening to music and socializing with neighbors.

“They love her,” said Terri Hansen, Parkhurst community relations manager. Hansen said the staff and residents nicknamed Herman “Minnie Winnie,” an affectionate title to which she usually responds to with laughter.

Minnie has lived through a great deal of history. She was born on a farm near Maysville, Okla. in 1911, the same year Crisco debuted on store shelves and the RMS Titanic launched from Belfast.

She grew up alongside three brothers and three sisters. Only her younger sister, Maxine McQueen of Arkansas, is still living. In 1933, Minnie married Sterling Herman and had three children. Only the youngest, Roger Herman of Bend, is still living.

Minnie’s husband, Sterling, died in 1989, and her relatives are scattered around the nation. Her grandchildren, two from the Southwest and one from Lincoln City, as well as her son-in-law, visited last week but were unable to make the birthday party.

Minnie and her family first moved to Mosier in 1947. She worked as a fruit packer for Apple Growers Association, now Diamond Fruit, for thirty years while still caring for two children. She saw the local fruit industry morph from a rail shipping system in ‘40s and ‘50s to its modern state as a plant in Odell uses refrigerated trucks, before she retired in 1977.

Minnie spent her retirement in Mosier, staying for 68 years before relocating to Parkhurst in January.