Repasky to celebrate 100 years

Susie Repasky walked into The Record office last week with her caretaker, Jeanna Pressler, to place an announcement of her upcoming 100th birthday party. She is in better physical shape than many 20-30 years younger. She uses a cane more for stability than actual need.

"I could dance if I had a partner," she said.

She's excited to announce a party at the Bridge City Knights of Columbus hall at 2-4 p.m., Jan. 18, 770 Ave. A, Bridge City.

She was born in the country, in Converse, Louisiana to Elbert and Helen Cates on Jan. 17,1925. She was the sixth child out of nine siblings. She is the last of nine still living.

She graduated from high school in 1942.

"I finished school and went to Lake Charles to a Business School. I went about three months and I decided that wasn't what I wanted," said Repasky. She went to the Army Air Force base in Lake Charles and applied for a job. "I got hired that day and I worked there till 1946."

She did office work, filling out forms and such.

"That's where I met my husband who was a soldier from Johnstown, Pa. and we got married in 1946," She married John Repasky. "He had got out of the service in December of '45 and yet still lived in Lake Charles."

They moved to Kansas City in 1947 where John Repasky went to plumbing school. A year after he finished his trade school, they moved to Orange and lived there until they built a house in Bridge City on the corner of West Darby and Texas Avenue, "where the donut shop and Red's Liquor store is now," she said. "We lived there on that property for 15 years, then we had a house built on the corner of Live Oak and Roundbunch.

"We had four kids, two boys and two girls. They all finished school at Bridge City High School."

Once all the kids were in school, she went to work at Orange Memorial Baptist Hospital for 30 years as the supervisor over admissions, switchboard and the cashier.

"I retired then I went back and for two years I volunteered in the emergency room." She was one of the grey ladies.

Once they both retired, they traveled to California, Phoenix, Las Vegas, New York and Pennsylvania with friends and to see family.

Dave Rogers did a story on her husband, John, for The Record Newspapers in 2017 when he turned 100. Mr. Repasky passed away three months later.

These days, she is home with her two caretakers most of the time.

"I don't have no hobbies really. I don't crochet and I don't knit. I don't paint...none of that stuff. I do like to play bingo and I do like to go to the casino once in a while," she said.

She plays Bingo after luncheons at St. Henry Catholic Church.

"I don't get out too much with all of this sickness," she said. "I don't have anybody living here. none of my family lives here."

She exercises by using her walker and walking in the garage for safety. She watches a little TV. Her shows are The Young and the Restless, the local news and Wheel of Fortune. She also likes to do word search puzzles.

"It don't take a lot of entertainment for old people like me," she said.

Three of her four children are still living. She lost a daughter to breast cancer in 1996. Susie came down with breast cancer during that time herself, but said she didn't require any chemotherapy or radiation.

"They just took the boob off and that was it," she said.

"One of my sons is in New York and one lives at Damon, Texas which is out of Houston and my daughter lives in Kenya Lake at San Antonio. I had three granddaughters and one died at six weeks."

She had five great-grandchildren but lost her 18-year-old great-granddaughter in February in a car accident.

She lost her last sibling three years ago. That's how she got her caregivers. Her sister was living with her and they were looking after her. When her sister died several months later, Repasky's children told her to keep the caregivers for herself. She didn't want to go to an assisted living and she gave up driving at age 96, so she needed help to get around if needed.

Her eyesight is still good because she gets shots in her eyes every 10 weeks to keep macular degeneration at bay.

What does she attribute to her long life? "The good Lord above. If you believe in that. He's the one that takes you through all troubles."

She recounted on her youth.

"I picked cotton, I'm not ashamed to say that we worked in the country. My dad was having this big farm and then he drove a school bus. That's how we lived. We had cows. We had milk. We had chickens. We had pigs. We had all kinds of vegetables. When you eat stuff like that, fresh, I think that has a lot to do with it too. My dad lived to be 97½ and my mother lived to 85."

She still has one double first cousin living.

"I'm the oldest she's 90 and I'm 99. I think maybe she might be in worse shape than I am I don't know but she's gonna come into my party," she said. Her cousin lives in Dallas.

"My son from New York should be coming in another week or so. He'll probably come on Wednesday before the party."

The public is invited to join her for cake and help her celebrate her centennial birthday.