Photo by Jim Tate Frances Boerboom, 105, stands next to some of her cross-stitching creations.

MARSHALL — Frances Boerboom of Marshall isn’t quite sure why she’s lived such a long and fruitful life.

“Take it a day at a time, take things as they come, live life to the fullest, and do your best,” said Boerboom, at 105 thought to be the oldest living person in the county, and region.

At least she thinks that’s how old she is. “September 11, 1918,” she said quickly when asked when she was born. “But I’ve never been able to find a birth certificate. Back then you were born in the home, and there’s no record of it anywhere that I’ve been able to find.”

Boerboom lives at Boulder Estates Assisted Living in Marshall, where she moved in 2021. Her husband, Lambert, died in 2001.

She grew up on a farm south of Marshall until she married Lambert on Sept. 25, 1940. The two met at a dance near Ghent, she said. It’s then that they moved to a farm east of Ghent. They farmed the land for years, and later rented the 246 acres out. The land is still in the family.

Growing up on a farm wasn’t easy. There was no electricity, and no plumbing. That means water had to be hauled in buckets from outside.

“There was a windmill that pumped it, or else you had to use a hand pump,” she said. “We cooked on a wood stove, which also helped heat the house,” she recalled. “There was also a coal burner that put out heat. It got cold at night. We’d sit by the stove to put on our pajamas and dressed close to it in the morning.”

Water for baths was brought in a bucket at a time, heated, “and we’d take a bath by the stove, where it was warm. Life could be hard,” she said.

Getting to town for school proved to be a challenge when there was snow.

“I had an aunt in town and if it was bad, we’d come in on Monday and go back home on Friday. My parents had a car, but there was no (county) snow removal. The neighbors would get out and shovel the roads,” she said.

Boerboom and her husband had four children: Elaine DeRuyck, Marshall; Larry, Gaithersburg, Maryland; Jerry, Alexandria; and Margie Jablinski, Coon Rapids.

She was born in Gary, S.D. and her parents moved to the farm south of Marshall a few years later.

When she got married and moved to the farm site near Ghent, it wasn’t too long before the house was hooked up to electricity. The Rural Electrification Act was enacted in May, 1936, and she said “it was 1942 or so” that the farm got electricity.

“No more milking cows by hand,” she said.

She tended a huge garden, and canned and froze a lot of produce, which was used throughout the year.

Running water would come later, she said, ending the hauling of water, a bucket at a time, into the house. The couple moved into Marshall in 1969.

What was going on in the world when she was born in 1918? World War I came to an end; Congress established time zones and approved daylight saving time; and the Cloquet fire occurred, killing 453 people in the community and nearby areas south of Duluth.

She enjoyed needlework when her eyesight was better, and several of her cross-stitching creations adorn her apartment walls at Boulder Estates. She loves to read, something she does much of the day.

“I don’t think the television has been on for two years,” said her son, Jerry.

Failing eyesight now requires her to use a special magnification reader, and she sits at the machine nearly every day.

She’s not sure why she’s lived so long. Jerry Boerboom has a theory, though.

“The food she ate growing up, it was freshly grown, it wasn’t processed, and the meat came from animals on the farm. That, and mom was always active.”

Boerboom and her husband Lambert enjoyed taking bus tours, and after he passed, Boerboom would be joined by a friend, Delores Rans, on many trips.

Beorboom worked as a “lunch lady” for 13 years at East Side elementary after she moved into Marshall. She also did some substitute teaching at the Ghent grade school when she lived on the farm.

She likes Boulder Estates and, looking back on her life, said, “I don’t think I’d do too much differently. It’s been a good life.”

As for longevity, it’s quite simple, she feels: “God isn’t ready for me yet.”