Charlotte Oistad French Spokane

Charlotte Oistad French is 100 years old today.

She was born June 7, 1896, on a farm near the Norwegian community of Shelly, Minn. Both of her parents died when she was small, and an older sister and brothers kept the family together.

After receiving a normal-school teaching certificate in Minnesota, Charlotte Oistad taught in Arizona for a year before moving to Kimberly, Idaho, and in 1921, to Sandpoint, where she was both teacher and principal.

It was there she met Bill French, a local station agent with the Great Northern Railroad. They married in 1923 and moved several times, following railroad assignments. They moved to Spokane in 1957. Mr. French died in 1979.

The couple had three children: Helen Savin, Middletown, Calif.; Marilyn Ulleland, Spokane; and Carol Buchanan, Redmond, Calif.

Mrs. French has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

She attributes her longevity to “the grace of God.”

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