Mary Alice Sprow

Spokane Valley

Mary Alice (Stimson) Sprow is celebrating her 100th birthday today. She was born Nov. 6, 1912, in Shelby, Ohio. She currently lives in Spokane Valley and has been a resident of Eastern Washington since 1945.

Sprow met her husband, Earnest Albert Sprow, at church and school. They were married in 1937. He died in 2007.

Sprow’s most rewarding life achievements are having lived to be 100 and staying in touch with all of her children as well as the 13 rotary exchange students she hosted.

Sprow credits her long and healthy life to the respect she had for her husband, the love and enjoyment of her friends and family, and a healthy diet.

When asked what has been her most memorable moment in the past 100 years, Sprow mentioned the year her father was elected as mayor of the small Ohio town they lived in.

Sprow has six children: Anne Petersen, Kentfield, Calif.; Ruth Roberts, Salem, Ore.; Joan Ojerio, Eugene, Ore.; Sylvia Riddle, Mead; Lupe Wehr, Deer Park; and Jim Sprow, McCordsville, Ind. She has 18 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.