Bucks
Elvira Kleinhofs – 100th year celebration
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Elvira Kleinhofs is a remarkable 100-year-old woman who lives near Quakertown with her stepdaughter, Astra Strobel. Astra is a desiger and will make for an interesting column some day.
Actually, I met Elvira Kleinhofs through Joe Boyle of Boyle’s Heating and Cooling in Quakertown. Joe told me that I should interview one of his customers because she had a remarkable story to tell. He was right.
Elvira
Klienhofs turned 100 on Thanksgiving Day. She was born on
“We Latvians fled just before the communists closed the border,” Elvira began. “I lost everything. I only had a small suitcase with a change of clothes and something to eat. But I thank God that I live in freedom. What I went through was unbelievable.”
Elvira found refuge in a camp in the British Zone of Germany. Her husband, Alex, was also a Latvian and escaped to a refugee camp in the same zone, although he would meet her later in Canada. Alex eventually found his way to Philadelphia and became a successful accountant.
Elvira was working 14-hour shifts in a British refugee hospital when a nurse noticed her. Elvira was 39, a tad old to start a career in nursing. But her supervisor sponsored her through nursing school in England. Elvira emigrated first to Canada where she met her husband through mutual friends. They married after a brief courtship and moved to Philadelphia. Elvira rose through the ranks at Albert Einstein Hospital and became the head nurse in Pediatrics.
When they retired, they moved to Upper Bucks to live quietly among nature, as she told me. “We were married for 40 years,” Elvira added as she pointed to a photograph of her handsome husband. Alex was 94 when he died. He is buried in a Latvian cemetery in the Catskill Mountains of New York, which will be her final resting place some day, right by his side.
Elvira Kleinhofs is remarkably agile. She uses a small trampoline and a rolling wheel to keep her muscle tone. She’s very proud of the birthday card, which President Bush sent her on her 100th birthday. It hangs in the living room right by a picture of the Statue of Liberty.
“I’m thankful for the veterans who helped me after the war,” Elvira said. “And I’m thankful for my neighbors who look out after me. We are like a big family.”
And so is the Quakertown Latvian Church at Fifth and Juniper Streets, which enjoys her visits.
“My stepmother’s attitude about life is amazing,” Astra Strobel told me. Astra’s father was a widower. “I was 18 and being raised by my father when he met my stepmother. It was 1960. She was such a loving person for my father.
“They decided to build a retirement home in the country…a little house in what was mostly fields and forest,” Astra continued. “The Quakertown area has certainly changed.”
“I always try to do my best,” Elvira said. We shook hands as we said goodbye. I was astounded by the strength in her hands. “I have both of my hands and arms,” she smiled.
Astra had a compelling observation about her stepmother. “The secret of her long life is all in her attitude,” Astra told me. “She is an optimist…has a “can-do” approach to things. She seldom complains…her only complaint is that the day is not long enough to accomplish all she sets out to do. Every day begins with a gratitude prayer, thanking the Lord for the sunshine, the trees, and the goodness of her friends and neighbors. Both my son and I are trying very hard to learn her secrets.”
Consider what Elvira Kleinhofs has witnessed in her 100 years. She was born six years before the sinking of the Titanic; traveled by horse and wagon; and saw a man walking on the moon. In her lifetime, she has seen the advent of the automobile, airplane, radio, TV, telephone, and computer. None of these existed when she was born. She’s seen 100 years of religious war…in all parts of the world. She experienced the destruction of Europe and saw it rebuilt…her native land occupied for 50 years and freed with the Soviet Union collapsed.
Elvira could write a book. Who knows? With the likes of her mental and physical strength, maybe she will.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith