Youthful 95-year-olds show no signs of slowing
Issue Date: 7/15/2010
Last Updated: 2/3/2014 2:52:35 PM |
By
Kate Haake
It’s not everyday you meet a 95 year-old who still dances, much less one who insists on wearing heels while doing so.
But a classy Ruby Moccabee is intent on wearing heels, even while she gardens at home. She’s almost a century old, has a lifetime of memories and advice and is eager to share her experiences with her friends and family.
But she’s not the only spry 95-year-old in the Mission Valley. Her friends and pinochle opponents, Bud Cheff, Clark Joy and Grace Ingraham, are also 95-years plus. All four are still happily living on their own, spending time with friends, competing in some pretty intense card games — and having a great time doing it.
Their lives haven’t been simple. After 95-years, one is bound to see drastic changes and experience their fair share of trials and tribulations. But all four of them have stories to tell and wisdom to offer.
Grace Ingraham
“We danced a million miles, I expect,” Ingraham reminisces of her late husband. “He was a marvelous dancer.”
Ingraham doesn’t dance anymore, now that her favorite partner and husband of 74 years has passed away.
But she still stays active in other ways. There’s pinochle on Monday and bible study on Wednesday. And of course, she’s always available for dinner when friends and family call.
“I’m never bored,” she said. “I’ve never been bored in my life.”
Her blue eyes sparkle and she moves easily about her small apartment at the Ronan Senior Apartments. It’s easy to see she’s happy and enjoying life.
“A great attitude helps your body a lot,” she explained.
Ingraham advises that positivity and being interested in other things other than yourself are key components to living a long and happy life.
Though Ingraham was born in Montana, and graduated from high school in Ronan, she and her husband have lived in Wyoming, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota and New York to name a few. But they always felt themselves being drawn back to Montana.
It’s the place where she was born and raised and is obviously her favorite.
“We would drive 24 hours straight to get from Minnesota to Montana (on vacation.) Then we would stay too long and have to drive 24 hours to get back again,” She explained.
Eventually, she and her husband came back to Montana to retire on Flathead Lake in Polson. But a house on the lake isn’t exactly suitable for a 95-year-old and so she resides in Ronan, keeping busy and keeping up with friends.
She has six grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, who came from all over the country to help her celebrate her most recent birthday and wish her all the happiness in the world.
“I have a very blessed life,” Ingraham said with a smile. “I can say that most sincerely.”
Ruby Mocabee
“I’m a Montanan from top to bottom,” Mocabee said, grinning.
Born in Musselshell County in a log house with a sod roof and a sod floor, her parents moved to Montana from Iowa to homestead.
She didn’t see a school bus until she was in the seventh grade. Until then, she rode a horse to school — bareback.
“I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I got to ride in the school bus,” she said.
The 95-year old spitfire has always been everybody’s favorite.
In 1928, she was adopted into the Crow Tribe by the chief. Her father played baseball with some of the Crow Indians and she was good friends with the chief’s daughter.
It was an honorary adoption, as Mocabee remained with her parents, but still it was quite the ordeal with feathers, chanting, regalia and the medicine man.
In 1952, she and her husband made their way to Ronan with eight children, where they stayed put until 1980. That year they bought a motor home and traveled for six years, traversing the country and back again. They decided to come home during a mild winter but woke up that first morning to “the worst blizzard that you ever saw.”
To this day Mocabee has many interests. She enjoys music and plays the mouth harp, guitar, piano and banjo in the day. She does word finds and dances her heart out with her friends.
Mocabee is known as quite the classy lady. She never dances in slacks or jeans and has never been seen without her heels.
As the matriarch of her family, she has 17 grandchildren, 41 great grandchildren, and one great-great granddaughter, who is barely a year old.
For Mocabee, she attributes her longevity to spending time with loved ones, staying physically healthy and having fun with everything she does.
“The joy I get from the little tiny kids that come to my house — that’s what I enjoy the most,” Mocabee said.
Clark Joy
The oldest of the four, Joy was born on a homestead ranch 30 miles east of Billings.
His childhood was rough, as his family tried to make ends meet on their ranch. He struck out on his own when he was just 15 years old, working for the Continental Oil Company. After employment ended there, he went to work on the railroad and eventually made his way to Polson. He arrived in Polson in 1930 and was one of the men who worked on Kerr Dam. He and his wife built a house that is still standing on Seventh Avenue.
In 1952, he moved to Kalispell, where he spent 40 years before retiring to Minnesota before making his way to Ronan.
He enjoys lunching in Polson with his wife and he still plays pinochle on occasion at the senior center.
He recently celebrated his 96th birthday at Sizzlers in Kalispell. He has four children, 10 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.
Bud Cheff
At 95, Bud Cheff is still set on mowing his own lawn — with a push mower. After his family confiscated his riding lawn mower, he went with his only other option and made a few rounds before having to go inside and rest.
Still he insists, “I’m the most worthless old man that ever lived.”
Of course, his family wanted to mow the lawn for him anyway.
Cheff’s memory of Montana is quite different than the Montana of today. As a boy, he remembers dirt roads, teams of horses, real cowboys and collecting nickels and dimes from underneath the boardwalk.
“Of course you know what we bought — always something sweet,” Cheff said, quick with a grin.
His parents immigrated from French Canada and spoke only French at home. Because their neighbors were Salish, he started school speaking only French and Salish. Of course he new a few phrases in English here and there.
It took him a year to learn to speak English, but a lifetime to try and keep his first two languages. He still practices Salish with friends and French with a granddaughter-in-law, but it’s more difficult now than before.
Through the years he has seen some drastic changes in the valley, but he continues to be a living testament to the Wild West of yore.
At 95, he still drives a green Subaru, lives alone, and cooks for himself.
“I’m the poorest cook in the world,” he claims.
He can’t feel his legs from the knee down because of diabetes, but he is immensely grateful for the adventures they have granted him.
“These legs have taken me atop of those peaks,” he said. “I should be thankful for them taking me there and letting me see the scenery that I have seen.”
He has climbed every peak of the Mission Range at least once.
His biggest piece of advice: honesty, fairness and hard work.
