The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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September 15, 2009

5 centenarians at Methodist home are honored for reaching 100 years

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer

The combined knowledge of the people attending Cherokee Strip Centenarian Celebration Tuesday at The Commons Methodist Retirement Home in Enid spans hundreds of years.

As a way to celebrate the Cherokee Strip Land Run, this month’s birthday party recognized five residents of the home who are 100 or more.

Recognized Tues-day were Maude Pur-nell, 105; Mary Ran-dolph, who turns 103 Saturday; Jahleel Mauk, who will be 102 in March; Inez Boehm, 103; and Caryle Rus-sell, who turns 101 in November.

Randolph’s parents came from Illinois. She was born in 1906 and lived her life in Drummond. As a girl she worked on the farm, where she did daily chores.

“I could milk a cow faster than any man. I was left-handed and I could do it faster,” she said.

She had one son who died at 62. She said her secret to a long life is to stay away from doctors.

As a young girl, her family did not have a telephone, but when she married and moved into Drummond, she said they were the first family in town to have a television set.

It is hard to identify anything as the greatest change in her life, she said.

“Everything’s changed, my goodness,” she said.

Russell was born in Carrier in 1908. Her father died when she was a baby and her mother raised six children, serving many years as postmaster. She had three sisters and two brothers, who are all deceased.

When she graduated Carrier High School, she moved to Enid, where her husband worked for the city of Enid. She also ran Lake Hellums Amusement Park.

“The biggest change in my life, why I’ve just grown up, that’s all,” she said.

Mauk was born March 5, 1908, on his family homestead northwest of Carrier. His mother told a story about the Dalton gang stopping at the store one day when all of the men were gone and asking for food. His mother fixed them boiled meat and potatoes, but refused payment. They discovered soon afterward the Daltons had just robbed a bank in Colorado.

“She said they were as nice a bunch of boys as you could want,” he said.

Mauk stayed on the farm until he was a senior in high school, then attended one year at Kansas State Agricul-ture College. Afterward, he went to Wisconsin, where he worked as a commercial fisherman, then bought equipment and became a professional harvester. He worked briefly at Champlin refinery, then worked as a truck driver and deliveryman.

He lived by himself, with daily family contact until he was 101.

“We have looked for a way to recognize these centenarians, and it’s hard to do at the monthly birthday parties, so we decided to use the Cherokee Strip celebration as a way to do it,” said Julie Torson, activities director.

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