Doris Alberts of Britton recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Alberts is pictured with How do you make it to 100 years old? According to Doris Alberts, “Do what you want to do in life and enjoy it.” Alberts celebrated her 100th birthday on June 6. As she embraces her new centenarian title, the birthday girl looks back on a life full of memories.
Alberts (maiden name Wenck) was bom in 1923 andgrewup on a farm near Andover. She went to school in town in Andover through the fourth grade. When her family moved, she went to country school where she remembers a wonderful teacher. She eventually graduated from Andover.
She ended up working in Britton where her employer told her he would pay if she went to college in Aberdeen. Off to Aberdeen she went to Northern State College where she lived in a house right next to the school. She went to a year of class to become a teacher and then taught at a country school near Femey. She would eventually earn a four-year degree from the institution in 1971.
For a small-town gal, Alberts would go on to be well-traveled. She even lived in California for a couple of years where she worked as a bookkeeper at the famous Cannery Row in Monterey. her three children, left to right, Lee Alberts, Marla Muscio and Leonard Alberts.
In September of 1946, she was offered a teaching job at the Weston Consolidated School in Amherst. It was there that she met her husband, Melvin. The couple married in 1947. Melvin was a World War II veteran. He spent four years in the Air Force in the Air Transport Command on a crew that flew soldiers around the globe. The couple would make their home near Amherst on Melvin’s family fami. They would have three children, Leland, Marla and Leonard.
Education was always an important part of Alberts’s life. She was proud that all three of her kids earned college degrees. She herself began teaching again in 1967, first kindergarten in Claremont and then began teaching in Langford with the first grade. She retired in 1985 after teaching 18 years in Langford.
Later in life, Alberts says she still enjoyed traveling. She and Melvin owned a motorhome and took trips to Florida, California and Mexico. She even made it all the way to Hawaii and Alaska. After her husband passed away at age 95.
She has now lived at Spruce Court in Britton for eight years. As evidenced by the baby, graduation, birthday and wedding photos hung about her room, the 100-year-old reigns over a large and loving family. Many of the family as well as friends and acquaintances got together a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Alberts’s birthday. Tracy Marquette, a former Langford student of the birthday girl, even wore a shirt with both Mrs. Alberts’s and her own photo on it that said, “Best Teacher Ever.”
These days, Alberts enjoys the quiet life. She likes joining her fellow residents for card playing and visiting. She is in fine health, she says. She doesn’t love that she has to use a walker but still gets around well. “I only visit the doctor once a year,” she emphasized.
Doris doesn’t necessarily attribute her longevity to any one magical thing, but rather a life pursuing goals and interests. “I did what I wanted to do and went where I wanted to go,” she declares. And since she’s still having a good time doing that, she adds that she doesn’t plan on checking out any time soon. As she said, “I know I’m lucky to be here, and I’m still enjoying life.”
