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Being 100 years old is a rare feat. But it appears that the milestone is growing more and more commonplace in recent years. The ability to celebrate a century of life alongside those who have spent the same lifetime with you is even more uncommon. That extraordinary accomplishment is, in fact, a reality for three sisters in Kansas.
Frances kompus turned 100 years old in November 2021. Her two older sisters, Lucy Pochop, 102, and Julia Kopriva, 104, joined her in taking part in the celebrations.
Many people who are fortunate enough to turn 100 might anticipate being the oldest person in the room, but one Kansas centenarian was the junior of her three siblings. We frequently lose touch with many people who mean a lot to us at different points in our lives as we become older.
Only a select few people are fortunate enough to live their entire lives with their loved ones. Thus Frances Kompus is particularly blessed in that regard.
At the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in her hometown of Atwood in northwest Kansas, Kompus reportedly spent the day with close friends and relatives, totaling about 50 individuals. The three siblings were all baptized at the same church, and throughout the years, each of them was married there as well. Kompus stated, “I loved it.” It was an enjoyable celebration.
According to KSN, the three sisters describe this as a true blessing, although some people may view it as an unusual coincidence. “I suppose. I’ve been around for a while,” Lucy Pochop chuckled. Frances Kompus said, “We’re getting close.” Julia Kopriva expressed her gratitude for her friends, her parents, and her beliefs.
The 3 Sisters Lived Together
After their grandparents emigrated from Czechoslovakia and settled in Rawlins County as farmers, the three sisters—who are now mothers and grandmothers—grew up on a farm in the small Kansas town of Beardsley. Pochop stated in an interview conducted last month, “I only remember how we used to walk to school.
It was around one mile and three quarters. The journey was far. Kopriva recalls how they used to walk the farm fields with their father, tending to the crops. “My father didn’t have any new tractors, as I clearly recall.
All of them are grandmothers and widows; Frances is only a few blocks away, while Lucy and Julia continue to live freely in apartments next to one another.
The sisters grew up on a farm where they experienced the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. They remember their father, who ran the farm without modern machines and lived to be 98 years old, telling them to bring him petrol in 5-gallon buckets so he could use it in the field.
She attributes one of the factors contributing to the long life she and her sisters have to good nutrition.
“We always had handmade bread, simple potatoes, gravy, and meats. Baking was challenging with such cookstoves. It was challenging to maintain the temperature. Even though it didn’t turn out well, we still ate it,” Julia joked.
We’ve lived together all our lives in and around Rawlins County and Atwood,” remarked Pochop, whose daughter Valyne disclosed that the three sisters used to talk on the phone two or three times a day while adjusting to parenthood.
With the cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as Grandpa and Grandma when they were still alive, we always celebrated holidays as a family. They’ve always been really close, she claimed. “They’ve been a part of each other’s life ever since.
The Rawlins County Square Deal newspaper’s editor, Rosalie Ross, has spoken with and written about each of the sisters as they have accomplished significant goals throughout time.
“They have devoted farm wives who worked hard. Some of their well-raised children are still farming in this area. “In an interview with USA TODAY, Ross stated. The fact that they are all 100 years old and in such superb health is, of course, fascinating.
Talking to them “was a ton of fun. They joke, chat, and recall, “Added Ross. “I would describe it as lovely. It offers a look back at the past.”
In a photograph from an undisclosed time, Frances Kompus, Lucy Pochop, and Julia Kopriva are shown.
Ross said Julia Kopriva told her a few stories, but one, in particular, stood out. Since her family spoke Czech at home, Julia was unable to participate in the school play when she was in first grade because the audience couldn’t understand her. But by the end of the year, Julia had picked up English and had started teaching her sisters and parents the language as well.
Ross explained, “So you’ve got a determined little kid (who stated), ‘This ain’t happening any longer.
The 3 Sisters Still Have Fun Together
Their shared basic and profound experiences, such as those of becoming moms, grandmothers, and even great grandmothers, have only served to deepen their bond through time. In fact, their kids recall frequent holidays and family get-togethers. The three closest friends even moved into neighboring flats after becoming widows.
Fran Allacher, the daughter of Kompus and a resident of nearby McCook, Nebraska, claimed that her mother and aunts had always been close. As the sisters moved into neighboring apartments in Atwood as widows and each became a widow, their friendship grew stronger.
Pochop and Kopriva began playing dominoes and playing cards every weeknight after moving into an apartment together next to one another in 2000, according to Allacher. Kopriva expressed her gratitude for having her sisters close by, saying that they had only recently gotten together but had always supported one another.
Having company was a good thing. We always play together,” she said before acknowledging that, as the oldest, she gets to “be boss.”
These sisters certainly have a lot of fascinating stories to share. They are extremely fortunate to still be together at such a young age
They each look to be in their 60s or 70s at the very most!
God continue to Bless them. 🙂