HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY TO DORELLYN GRODRIAN
Dorellyn was born in Garrett, Indiana in 1915. Her father was a supervisor on the railroad and she had 2 brothers and three sisters. I talked to Dorellyn at Village Bowl on Thursday, October 6, just one week after her birthday. She would bowl a frame, sit down and talk a little, and then bowl another frame. She bowls on two leagues, the Senior Citizen League on Thursday mornings and the West Creighton League every other Saturday night at 6:30pm. She is one of the original bowlers on Creighton League and has been bowling with them for about 50 years.
Dorellyn recently was awarded the Tom O’Conner award for her work with the West Creighton Food Bank. She has been working with them since they began 26 years ago.
Dorellyn remembers driving to school in a 1928 Overland. She graduated from Garrett in 1933 and she has been driving for 76 years.
When asked about the things that have changed the most in her lifetime, she said, “Transportation, television and privacy. When I was younger, we cared a lot more about others and not so much about ourselves or our own privacy.”
She remembers her husband of 64 years working 84 hours for $13 per week during the great depression. She said, “We had a Watkins Chocolate Sampler Bank and we put in $1 a week for savings.” She has lived through 2 cancer surgeries but enjoys life to the fullest.
A couple of years ago, she made up a rhyme that said, “I can do everything I always did if you want to wait, and that’s pretty good for 88.” And then added, “I will have to make up a new rhyme, now that I am older.”
When asked what she attributed to her long life, she said, “Good clean living. I don’t smoke or drink and I take vitamins.”
Her son, Tim Grodrian and daughter, Sharon Gillen had a birthday party for her, with 70 guests attending. They presented her with an album celebrating her many accomplishments.
Dorellyn Grodrian has 7 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
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