100 years of excitement

One hundred years just sort of snuck up on Lola Lovell.

Maybe she was too busy juggling duties as a schoolteacher, wife and mother. Perhaps it was her quest to visit every continent, sharpen her shot as a pheasant hunter or publish genealogy literature -- all of which she did.

The longtime Las Vegas resident just lived each day, she said, and didn't really think about the numbers of candles on the birthday cake.

She witnessed history: two world wars, more than a dozen presidential elections, voyages to space and entering a new millennium.

Today Lovell will add a substantial page to her own history book when she turns 100 years old.

"I haven't dwelled on this," she said. "It's only been in the last two days that I've become excited about it."

If Lovell wasn't excited, those around her sure were Wednesday.

Lovell, who lived alone until April, celebrated her birthday with her fellow Las Ventanas retirement home residents with a luncheon. She was the center of attention for them and the three generations of her family who flew in from around the country.

She attributed her long life to good genes and clean living.

A simple explanation for a woman who has seen some extraordinary sights.

Lovell remembers both world wars and working as a teacher through the Great Depression. Although she and her family weren't negatively affected, she said she felt it when she looked at the faces of her students.

"Many didn't have schoolbooks or meals," she said. "I do remember that and feeling so sorry for the children."

Lovell maintained a steady paycheck, and the bank in her hometown of Mishawaka, Ind., never closed. She considered herself lucky and said she is more frightened for the outlook of the current state of the economy and what could happen.

Lovell and her husband, Allen, had one son, Bruce. They lived in Indiana and New York City before moving to Las Vegas in 1961. They lived in Santiago, Chile, for two years and spent their retirement years traveling the world for months at a time. They visited each continent and still made their yearly pheasant-hunting trip to South Dakota.

But Las Vegas was home base. Lovell said she liked to bet on the horses and indulge in the good food and ample space to take walks.

The Las Vegas of today, she said, is much the same just minus the occasional run-in with "a Mafia man."

She had a passion for genealogy and can recite facts about her family with ease. She said she thinks she is the only member of her family to reach the centenarian mark.

She giggled while reading a novelty card detailing how much everyday items cost in 1909. Bread was 4 cents, a new car was $850, a gallon of milk was 32 cents.

Lovell marks the lunar landing and any space-related voyage as impressive advancements in her lifetime. She's interested in the future of medicine now.

And though she has seen her share of good and bad times, Lovell said she sees a common thread.

"Human nature is always the same, we will always have wars," she said. "I read the Bible and see the same human nature (from then) today."

Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.