- Ella Schuler
Infobox_Person
image_size =
name = Ella Schuler
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1897|9|5
birth_place =Fontenelle, Nebraska ,
United States
death_date =
death_place =
known_for =Supercentenarian
occupation =Homemaker Ella Frieda Winkelmann Schuler (born
September 5 ,1897 ) is an Americansupercentenarian and the oldest living person in the state ofKansas .cite news|title=A witness to history: Topekan to turn 110|date=2007-08-31 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20070831/ai_n19503819] She currently resides in Topeka at Aldersgate Village Retirement Community.cite news|title=Aldersgate Newsletter|date=Fall 2007|url=http://www.umhomes.org/newsletter_pdf/Fall_07.pdf]Biography
She was born Ella Winkelmann in
Fontenelle, Nebraska , the fourth child of German-immigrant parents. Her family raised horses, milked cows, and grew corn and oats.cite news|title=A witness to history: Topekan to turn 110|date=2007-08-31 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20070831/ai_n19503819] While her brothers eventually enrolled in school, her childhood was mostly spent working at home. Schuler reflects that farm-life was very difficult, concluding, “if you don’t want to work hard, don’t go to a farm.”cite news|title=Schuler celebrates her 110th birthday|date=October 2007|url=http://www.seniormonthly.net/Senior-oct07.pdf]She married John Cecil Schuler on
August 19 ,1923 . Originally fromVirginia , Ella met John when he traveled through Kansas working on theUnion Pacific Railway . Over the next ten years, Ella gave birth to three sons: James, John, Jr. and Robert, all born in Page City,Kansas . In 1934, husband John left his post in the railroad industry and with Ella founded Schuler’s Grocery Business in Topeka. Eventually the Schulers expanded their business and purchased the gas station adjacent to their grocery store.cite news|title=Aldersgate Newsletter|date=Fall 2007 |url=http://www.umhomes.org/newsletter_pdf/Fall_07.pdf] While in her 50s, Schuler earned herhigh school diploma and soon after completed a two-year program at what was then known as Washburn College, nowWashburn University .cite news|title=Schuler celebrates her 110th birthday|date=October 2007|url=http://www.seniormonthly.net/Senior-oct07.pdf] In 1952, James, the first of Ella’s three sons, died at age 26 of complications resulting fromappendicitis . The Schuler’s closed their grocery store in 1978 to enter retirement. During the spring of 1983, after almost 60 years of marriage, Ella’s husband died. Following this, Ella spent several years traveling both throughEurope and the US. She still lived independently until 1995, aged 98, when she sustained injuries from a fall on an icy sidewalk and consequently moved to anassisted living facility .Currently, Schuler is 111 years-old and still healthy. She regularly walks with a wheeled-walker as her only assistance. She prefers to stay busy, still reading two to three hours a day, with particular interest in
National Geographic ,Scientific American , and other science-related material.cite news|title=Aldersgate Newsletter|date=Fall 2007 |url=http://www.umhomes.org/newsletter_pdf/Fall_07.pdf] “I like to do work. I work whenever there’s work to do,” says Schuler.cite news|title=Schuler celebrates her 110th birthday|date=October 2007|url=http://www.seniormonthly.net/Senior-oct07.pdf] Her progeny amounts to six children, 15 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild. She attributes herlongevity tosupernatural causes, stating, “That's all God's will [...] I eat just like you do. I drink a glassful of milk three times a day.”cite news|title=Schuler celebrates her 110th birthday|date=October 2007|url=http://www.seniormonthly.net/Senior-oct07.pdf]ee also
*
List of living supercentenarians References
External links
*
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
