Bessie “Bee” Eva Adlard Eyster was joined by family and friends Thursday in Century Hall of First United Methodist Church to celebrate her 102nd birthday.
She was born Aug. 7, 1913, but celebrated a little early when family members from California were in town.
“She was always a competitive tomboy by nature,” her son Jim Eyster said. “When she had her hip replaced at age 90, we had to get her to slow down her rehabilitation because she was passing the tests too rapidly and would be sent home before she could care for herself.”
She got her first computer on her 80th birthday and quickly learned to use email, keeping in touch with her family.
At age 81 she took a trip in a hot air balloon.
She was the third of four girls in her family, and while their parents did not go to college, all four girls did.
She married Walter C. Eyster June 11, 1939, in Madison, Ohio’s Park Methodist Church. She and Walter had three sons, James, Jerry and John. The family has since expanded to include six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.
“Uncle Ed” Alloy, a clown, and “Magic Steve” Kucera, the magician from Salida Circus, provided entertainment at Eyster’s 102nd birthday celebration, and “Uncle Ed” presented her with a bouquet of flowers made from balloons before birthday cake was served.
She lived alone until age 97, when she moved into assisted living after a fall. At 101 she moved to Buena Vista to live with her granddaughter and family, Eleanor and Andrew Fahrney and son Jake, and in June she became a resident of Safe Haven in Salida.