A century apart: Auburn's Norberg and a child of a family friend

Centenarian Reathel Norberg shares a candid moment with a friend, 1-year-old Owen Brockmiller-MacKinnon. - COURTESY, Amanda Waltman/Yuen Lui Photography
COURTESY, Amanda Waltman/Yuen Lui Photography
Centenarian Reathel Norberg shares a candid moment with a friend, 1-year-old Owen Brockmiller-MacKinnon.

August 6, 2010 · Updated 1:47 PM 

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Auburn’s Reathel Norberg turned 101 years old on Aug. 1, sharing the same birthday with 1-year-old Owen Brockmiller-MacKinnon, the child of a family friend.

“I feel great,” said Norberg, who was born and raised in Kent and lived in the Green River Valley throughout most of her life. “I’ve told others I want to live to be 200.”

Family and friends helped celebrate the occasion at Parkside Retirement Center.

For Norberg, longevity means taking good care of yourself and staying busy. She worked at Boeing for 25 years. She was an active dancer who especially loved to waltz.

She has four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

She enjoys children, playing cards, reading and sharing her good sense of humor and laughter with family and friends.

“I’ve had a good life,” she said.

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