Mary Butrum, pictured above.

Mary Butrum, a resident of Oak Gardens Place in Altoona, has lived a big life. From growing up in Minneapolis and telling her parents she would never live somewhere this cold again, to eventually settling down on the coast in New Orleans with her husband – working as a high school guidance counselor.

Mary did in fact end up back in a cold climate, and she's also celebrating a big milestone today, Jan. 14: turning 100 years old and becoming a "centenarian."

We sat down to learn more about Mary's life story, and what’s changed in our world over the last 100 years.

Happy Birthday to Mary, from the team at Volume One and readers of the Chippewa Valley!

Where are you from, and what’s your favorite place you’ve lived?

I was born in Minneapolis and I went to school there. My senior year at the University of Minnesota I got frostbite, and I told my parents I wanted to get to a warmer climate. So I went to Oregon and taught and coached girls athletics.

I was in New Orleans most of my life until I lost my house and everything I owned in Hurricane Katrina, and I had a sister and brother in law in Eau Claire. When Katrina hit, everyone I knew scattered all over the country, so I came up here. I never thought I’de be in this climate again. I’m not appreciating the cold.

What did you love about New Orleans? 

For one thing, we had a beautiful home on the water, so I was able to swim everyday. On the weekends we did a lot of boating and water sports. The food, the food was unsurpassed. That’s something I miss very much is fresh seafood. I miss the water, but I mostly miss the seafood. Because we lived on the water, it’s super fresh. I would get home from school and jump on the boat and catch my supper.

What activities did you enjoy when you were growing up? 

I grew up in the "big band" age, so I like the music from the 40s and 50s. I liked all the big bands that came through, and I did a lot of dancing at all of the concerts that came through. 

Where’s your favorite place you’ve traveled?

Let’s back up, I went back to University in Arizona and then I got married and we moved to New Orleans and I got my masters in counseling and guidance from Loyola University and then I was a high school counselor. So in my summer times I studied further for additional credit. I went to France and I studied there, and then after I retired from counseling I led pilgrimages to historical and religious sites throughout the world for a travel agency, Catholic Journeys out of New Orleans. It was very fortunate for me because I like to travel, and then I got to see just about every place except India. I never got to India.

I’d say my favorite place is the holy land. Very historical, very spiritual, it’s a fascinating place to see how they’ve built on top of everything. They’re always excavating and finding new things.

What kind of things did you enjoy as a teenager? 

Well, I liked to dance. We’d see the big bands in St. Paul. The major thing I liked for entertainment was swimming. I swam all the time, and when traveling I always packed my swimming gear first so I wouldn’t forget it. Wherever I was going, I swam there. Swimming is definitely my favorite. 

Describe some of the big changes you’ve seen throughout your life.

I went through the Great Depression, I remember it well. I went through World War II, my brother was in the Navy and we kept in contact with him. Of course after World War II there were so many changes. You know, society has changed completely. I know if my parents were alive now they’d be totally shocked. They’d be shocked cause we’re here and we’re also shocked.

(Another) big change was polio. Polio just swept the country, and it was very bad around here. I got Polio and was paralyzed; the doctors said I made a miraculous recovery. All the cases would go to either Minneapolis or Texas. I went to Charity Hospital in Minneapolis, Minn. and I was very lucky to get out of there because there are a lot of people that were patients there that ended up with very bad deformities or didn’t survive at all.

The doctors would come in for treatment with what looked like this big coffee urn on wheels, and it was steaming, and they had these wraps that looked like pieces of underwear. They would take the lid off and steam would just pour out and they would take the wraps out with a stick, it was so primitive. They would wrap the whole body; I was totally wrapped in steaming cloth and it felt like I was burning to death. They had my legs tied up, and a pair of tennis shoes on my feet anchored to a board so that one leg wouldn’t grow shorter than the other.

V1 staffer Matt Hasenmueller (left) and Mary Butrum (right). Mary shared with V1 that her whole world changed during the height of polio in the twentieth century. Mary had been diagnosed with Polio, and recalled time spent in the "Hubbard tub," a mechanism to aid in the treatment of the viral disease.

Then, they would take you upstairs and put you in a Hubbard tub – which was filled with warm water. They’d lower you in the tub up to your neck – exercise you in the water – and people thought they were drowning. For me, I was so used to swimming, so in the Hubbard tub, I loved it. When they eventually advanced me to other equipment I really missed the Hubbard tub, that was a bright spot in my day.

The whole culture seemed to change during that polio period. Everybody was scared to death, and nobody knew how they could avoid contracting it. Polio created a big change in everything, from the way they treated food, they closed the restaurants because they were trying to avoid the spreading, and they tried to isolate people, and that’s why everyone was either in Minneapolis and Texas. It was just about as big of a change as World War II.

Finally when the Salk vaccine came out, that’s what ended this long siege.

Through all those changes, what gives you hope, or what gave you hope that everything will be alright?

Well, I never thought they’d be alright. Things I did on the side that helped improve things was painting. I loved all the art things. I went to France and studied art in France and had a crazy art teacher.

Can you tell me about a time you laughed really hard? 

No. (Followed by laughter from all of us in the room)

What lessons do you think people still need to learn? 

Certainly be less consumeristic and less materialistic. Definitely. Once you accumulate you think, what am I going to do with all of this? I lost everything in hurricane Katrina. I had art from just about every country I visited, and it was very enjoyable to sit in my house and see all of these things. But, once Katrina came it wiped out all of it. Not only did Katrina take away everything I had, everybody I knew just scattered across the country, so I have no context for them.

So, you don’t need all that stuff, you know. Enjoy it while you have it, but when it’s gone – it’s gone.

What’s one thing you want people to know? 

If it’s within their reach, they should travel. It’s a whole education every time you take a trip. It broadens your scope. Different clothes, different cultures, different practices.

Is there anything else you’d like to say to people in the Chippewa Valley?

I think (the Chippewa Valley is) very accepting and very friendly. I like that, and (people are) very accommodating. If you need assistance with something they’re right there to help you.

I don’t like the weather, but the people are very nice.