101-year-old shows off her singing

Freda Sackett, 101, enjoys her chance to sing the 'Star-Spangled Banner' with St. Paul Lutheran Church choir. THE BLADE/LISA BERNHEIM Enlarge | Photo Reprints

It took 101 years for Freda Sackett to get the opportunity to sing in front of thousands of people.

Mrs. Sackett was part of the St. Paul Lutheran Church choir that sang the national anthem Friday night before the Mud Hens' game against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Fifth Third Field.

Included in the choir is Mrs. Sackett's niece, Mary Aring of West Toledo, who has sung in church choirs ever since the second grade. Mrs. Aring has been a member of St. Paul, at 428 Erie St., downtown, since 1977.

"My aunt doesn't really sing in the choir usually, but we thought she'd get a kick out of it, and she used to sing in a choir when she was younger," Mrs. Aring said. "She still loves to sing."

Mrs. Sackett was born in 1910 in Weston, Ohio, and resides in the Lutheran Village nursing home at Wolf Creek in Holland, which she moved into in March. She's never driven, but when her husband died in 1971, Mrs. Sackett would take the bus or taxi wherever she needed.

It wasn't until she was in her 90s that she was no longer able to travel that way, Mrs. Aring said, and she began taking her aunt to church each Sunday morning.

"Ever since she was a little girl, she and her two sisters … would sing together at family reunions," Mrs. Aring said.

Mrs. Sackett's family members on her father's side, whose last name is Root, have met annually on Labor Day for 95 years.

"We still have pictures and programs from back then of them as the entertainment at the reunions," Mrs. Aring said.

Mrs. Sackett said that her favorite part of singing are the "old church hymns," and Mrs. Aring said that her aunt remembers all of the words.

Although Mrs. Sackett said she is more content watching golf on television and isn't much of a baseball fan, she said the opportunity to sing at the Mud Hens' game was very exciting.

Contact Payton Willey at: paytonwilley@theblade.com or 419-724-6065