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Family and friends gathered last week to celebrate the 100th birthday of one longstanding Elgin resident.
Elgin Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center packed its party hall Aug. 1 in honor of La-Verne Owens and her century spent in Elgin.
Owens was born in 1924 to Edwin and Hulda Lundgren, owners and operators of the old Elgin Cotton Oil Mill.
Along with her husband Edward, Owens spent her childhood in Elgin and graduated from Elgin High School in 1940. She attended Seton University and earned her degree in nursing.
Edward was a WWII Navy veteran and would go on to become a petroleum engineer, traveling across the country and abroad.
Through their travels, the Owens family relocated to Georgia, New Jersey and Houston, but would return to Elgin in 1984 to be around their many relatives and childhood friends.
According to those close to her, Owens has spent her years gracing the city with generosity and selflessness. Profanity has no place in her vocabulary.
Owen’s guiding principle in life has always been to “do unto others,” and now it’s time to start letting others “do unto her,” friends said.
