These two have seen plenty of changes in the past 100 years

Dee Kuhlman and Luella Young

Aase Haugen Home residents Luella Young and Dee Kuhlman were born before the start of World War I.

That means the two have seen a lot of changes in the past century.  Young is now 102 years old, while Kuhlman is 100.  Kuhlman notes, however, "I didn't think I'd get to 50."

Since she has now reached double that figure, the Aase Haugen Home recognized her and Luella on Friday afternoon.

They have lived long and varied lives.  Luella has survived influenza and scarlet fever epidemics as a child.  She attended college at St. Olaf and Iowa State Teachers College, taught school, then worked for the National Food Company and Luther College's Food Service.  Along the way she did a lot of traveling with her husband, George, and her daughter, Lorna.

Dee grew up in downtown Chicago, went to work for the Chicago Great Western Railroad, met and married Will Kuhlman and moved to Decorah in 1974.  "Decorah has been an important part of my life," says Kuhlman.  She spent many hours visiting shut-ins who were members of First Lutheran Church and enjoyed water aerobics at the Decorah Pool up to the age of 96.

 

Luella Young

Dee Kuhlman