Former Keokuk County woman to turn 108

Mrs. Harriet Tinnes Harley will celebrate her 108th birthday on July 27. There will be no party this year because of the virus, but she would love to hear from old friends in the Washington area.

Her address is 3752 Thunder Ridge Road, #123 in Bettendorf, IA 52722.

Harriet lived alone in her own home until she was 105. Now in assisted living, she remains active doing word puzzles, reading, winning regularly at Bingo, and writing “her life story.” She thinks that, despite the challenges, in many ways, she has lived during the best of times.

Harriet Margaret Tinnes was born in Keokuk County near Talleyrand. She grew up on a farm there working hard, helping nurse her family through scarlet fever, and weathering the depression. She played the piano and taught Sunday School at St. Paul's Evangelical Church, and led 4-H sewing classes in the area. She also served as editor of the Keota Klipper, the Keota High School paper. Harriet graduated in the class of 1931.

After earning her teaching certificate at Parsons College in Fairfield, she taught all eight grades in a one-room schoolhouse heated by a pot bellied stove.

In 1936, she married Charles Wilton Harley of West Chester. They moved to Davenport where they owned and operated a confectionery called the Karmel Korn Shop and started a family. When World War II broke out, all the young men in her family joined the military. She became a Navy wife and traveled around the country with her aviator husband and her two small daughters. After the war, the family returned to Davenport where she and her husband owned and operated East Locust Hardware and Building Supply for 37 years. She served as First Lady of the Iowa Retail Hardware Association during her husband's two years as president of the association.

She had two daughters: Dr. Sandra Harley Carey (Brig. Gen. J. Ronald Carey) of Canyon Lake, Texas, and Linda Leanne Harley, formerly of Dahinda, Illinois. She has two granddaughters: Bekkie Huffman (Kevin Huffman), Bettendorf and Dr. Debbie Oldenburg (Dr.Tim Kirchberg), Columbus, Wisconsin. Harriet also has six great-grandchildren: Kisha Blunk (Austin Blunk), Kamryn, and Kelsey Huffman of Bettendorf and Turner, Tanner, and Trace Kirchberg of Columbus, Wisconsin. A great-great-grandson, Kade Blunk, is the newest addition to her family.