Teens Unchanged She Says (At 102)

NEWS PHOTO BY JACK STUBBS

Teens Unchanged,She Says (At 102)

By Mary Jo Staples

(News Staff Reporter)

WHITMORE LAKE — “When I was 16, we used to have to go out with the boys on the sly because we were kept down."

That was 86 years ago.

Teens and times haven't changed much, according to Mrs. Herman Pipp, who will celebrate her 102nd birthday Sunday.

"Boys and girls still want to get together. Our mothers worried about us when we were at the boy-liking age but boys didn’t have cars then. We were good kids,” she says.

The perky woman with a quick wit and smile was honored Thursday at a birthday party at the Whitmore Lake Convalescent Center where she has been a resident since September.

Besides a stack of birthday greetings and a three-tier cake decorated with pink rosebuds, the centenarian received a slinky blue negligee. Her only response: “Isn’t it beautiful. It’s a creation.”

The birthday gal wore a brightly-printed dress and plastic purple violet in her white coiffure. Her clear blue eyes shone from the frame of her deeply creased face.

Mrs. Pipp, affectionately called “grandma” or “Cathie” at the convalescent center, was born in Bay City and lived in Ann Arbor for 97 years.

She considers some of her happiest days to be when she and her husband lived quietly, rearing their two daughters. She assisted her late husband in his architectural firm. Mr. Pipp designed Nickels Arcade, the Barton Hills Country Club and the old Whitney Theater in the 100 block of N. Main St.

Mrs. Pipp graduated from St. Thomas High School in 1889 and was married the same year.

Being a housewife and mother was her full time occupation. “Marriage and children are a fulfillment of a woman’s life,” Mrs. Pipp says.

Although she can’t recall hearing very much about women’s liberation, Mrs. Pipp says, "Now days it takes two to work — the mother and husband — because living is so high.”

She still contends, “A woman’s place is in the home. It’s her castle.”

A romantic, Mrs. Pipp enjoys reading. “I love a love story. I don’t like to read anything very deep now. I read a good deal and sleep and eat.”

Mrs. Pipp, who has a grandson and four great-grandchildren, says she thoroughly enjoys having children visit.

“Children are much smarter today. But I don’t think they’re spoiled. Many of them want to get out and work. Sometimes it’s hard to find a job,” she explains.

She recalls competing with other girls in the neighborhood to care for the babies in the block — not as paid baby sitters but just for the fun of it.

“Girls and boys are doing it for money now,” Mrs. Pipp says.

As a girl, she remembers seeing the first trolley car in Ann Arbor and the first cars.

“The automobile was a wonderful thing of creation. I don’t know how we’d get along without it,” she says.

With a twinkle of mischievousness in her eye, Mrs. Pipp tells how she and a school chum used to visit the old jail on N. Main St. to see “the crazy men.”

Reflecting on her life, Mrs. Pipp says, “It’s a hard world. You have joy and sorrow. The sorrow goes away and the joy stays.”

Presently Mrs. Pipp is recovering from a broken hip. On her 100th birthday Mrs. Pipp was still wearing high heel shoes and doing most of the housekeeping duties for herself and her daughter who worked during the day.

She has no secrets of longevity. “I just lived a long life. It's hard enough to do that.”

Mrs. Pipp says she has been thin all her life. “I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve been very fortunate. I’m no young chicken anymore, you know.”

Mrs, Pipp, A Violet In Her Hair, Blows Out Candle