Centenarian celebrates with family and friends

Pauline Borden fetes her 100th in her Springfield Township apartment.

A former West Toledo woman celebrated a century of life Saturday with her family and friends at the Lutheran Village at Wolf Creek in Springfield Township.

Pauline Borden turned 100 on Feb. 18, and her birthday party took place Saturday.

Mrs. Borden's energy level defies her age, said Donna Redway, the assistant activities manager at Lutheran Village.

She participates in an exercise class and plays bingo in addition to being a member of the Red Hat Society and attending church services.

"She doesn't use a walker or nothing," Mrs. Redway said. "She is very active. She even walks outside when it's beautiful weather out."

Mrs. Borden's 70-year-old son, Harold, of Temperance, Mich., said longevity is a trait that runs in his mother's family.

He said his mother had a cousin who lived to be more than 90.

"The rest of her father's side of the family had longevity," Mr. Borden said.

She was born Feb. 18, 1908, on a farm in Edgerton, Ohio, a town west of Toledo near the Indiana border.

Her parents, Louise and Charles Wines, also had two sons, Mr. Borden said.

The Wines family moved to Toledo about 1916.

Pauline graduated from Swanton High School in 1926 and two years later, she married Edward Borden, who was raised in Deshler, Ohio.

The couple were married for 56 years. They raised their children on Capistrano St. in West Toledo. Edward Borden died in 1984 at the age of 79.

In addition to their son, Harold, Pauline and Edward had two other children, Robert Borden, 78, who lives in York, Maine, and Betty Lay, who died in her mid 60s.

After high school Pauline graduated from Stautzenberger College in Maumee with a business degree, becoming a secretary for DeVilbiss, a company now owned by Black & Decker Corp., which makes generators and other products, according to a representative.

At that time the company made aerosol products, Mr. Borden said.

After she was married, Mrs. Borden worked as a homemaker, but she was also an air raid warden in Toledo along with her husband during World War II, Mr. Borden said.

"During my father's retirement years, they traveled quite extensively all over the United States to Alaska and to Hawaii," Mr. Borden said.

"They took pride in themselves and they said they had touched all 50 states in the United States and also Canada quite extensively."

Pauline told staff members at Lutheran Village her secret to living a long life is her eating and sleeping habits.

"I eat three meals a day [and] sleep from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.," she said. "I don't eat between meals."

"She always takes her vitamins," her son added.