Celebrating the century mark

Three centenarians were honored Monday at Overlake Terrace Assisted Living in Redmond. Staff, friends and family members shared lunch and music with Thomas Branch, who turned 100 on Nov. 10, 2008 and was profiled in the Nov. 15, 2008 Redmond Reporter, along with Edna Burdette Hamm whose 100th birthday was Feb. 25, 2009 and Eva Gwendolyn Ostle who reached the century mark on April 3, 2009.

Hamm, who likes to be called "Burdie," was born in Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada, the sixth of seven children. Her family moved to San Diego, Calif. when she was four and her father ran a store. Burdie loved the ocean and swam until she was 95 years old.

Burdie had three marriages. The first lasted 40 years and produced two daughters.

One of her daughters, Betty Luce of Sammamish, attended the party Monday. Recalling her mom's past roles such as a great cook and a PTA president, Luce commented, "She always headed up everything, she traveled all over the world, was very, very much in the spotlight and had enthusiasm plus."

Burdie remarried after her first husband Herb passed away, and traveled with both of her other husbands until their deaths. Burdie moved to Washington state in age 90 to be closer to family.

Ostle, whose nickame is "Gwen," was the oldest girl among six children in her family. Schooled in Seattle since the age of six, she worked for the School of Business Administration at University of Washington (UW) for 35 years.

Gwen married her husband Tom in 1930. They were happily together for 67 years and had two children who both obtained their degrees at UW.

Gwen and Tom both retired in 1974 and traveled abroad extensively, as well as water-skiing on Lake Sammamish well into their 80s. After Tom passed away in 1997, Gwen lived alone for 10 years before coming to Overlake Terrace in 2007.

She said the most important things she's learned from her life are, "That you're still you, no matter what your age, just a year older. I've learned to look at things positively. Never think of yourself as being old. Do the very best you can, always."

Contact Redmond Reporter Reporter Mary Stevens Decker at mdecker@redmond-reporter.com or (425) 867-0353, ext. 5052.

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