Ida E. Culbertson Spokane

Sat., Jan. 9, 1999

Ida E. Culbertson turns 100 years old today.

She was born on Jan. 9, 1899, in Rockford, Ill.

She lived in Edwall, Wash., and was 19 when she married Luther Culbertson. Her husband left to pursue gold, and they later divorced.

In 1933 she purchased 480 acres of land nestled between Cheney and Marshall, where she farmed and raised five of their seven children. Two of her children, William, 3, and Beverly, 1-1/2, died from spinal meningitis on the same day.

She is also the mother of Alveretta Ellen Balch and Betty Lou Culbertson. Her other children, Marjorie Eleanor Rogers, Melba Wilponen and Luther Culbertson, are deceased.

Mrs. Culbertson sold the land in 1943 and later moved to Spokane. She now lives at the Garden Terrace Manor.

She has 22 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Culbertson always said she “would live to be 110.” She attributes her longevity to being active and her stubbornness.

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