CROWN POINT | Colonial Nursing Home and Rehab Center resident Mary Dykers was only one-year-old when the Titanic sank but she still remembers her parents talking about the oceanic disaster.
“It was one of the greatest events of my lifetime,” Dykers said.
Dykers turns 102 on March 26.
Born in Oskaloosa, Iowa in 1911, Dykers has lived through two world wars and the depression. She said the depression didn’t affect her family much as her father was a police officer who stayed gainfully employed working every day during those years which brought massive unemployment.
Dykers said she remembers the first Ford, which had to be hand cranked to start. She remembers Charles Lindbergh making the first solo trans-Atlantic flight, seeing the first man land on the moon and prohibition.
The biggest change Dykers said during her life is the amount of entertainment available to fill people’s time from electronics to movies.
“We didn’t have all of that when I was growing up,” Dykers said.
Dykers had three daughters, two of which survive. One lives in Arizona and one in Schererville. She worked a brief time at a clothing store, but mostly stayed home to care for her family.
An eight-year resident at Colonial, Dykers was the guest of honor at the nursing home’s recent St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Resident Lurene Lobodinski, the residents’ council president, said she was enjoying the party and admired the decorations.
Dykers, who was dressed festively for the party, said she especially likes wearing jewelry.
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