100 Looks Good on Elsie Williams

As Elsie Gerber Williams approaches Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, she is entering territory that few of us ever approach. She will turn 100 years old!

Born in Lowell to Ray and Leah Gerber, she was the middle child of three. Her siblings, all 18 months apart, included older sister Bertha Thornburg (1923-2011) and younger brother Darrell (Rusty) Gerber (1926-2010).

Elsie grew up in the depression and knew what it was to struggle. Her parents owned and operated a gas station in Lowell for many years. When they were younger, Bertha on the banjo and Elsie on the guitar, serenaded the customers as they filled their tanks.

She attended a one-room school in Lowell through eighth grade and then went to New London High School where she graduated in 1943.

During World War II, she married Ernest Williams (1920-2004) in Atlanta, GA where he was stationed. They had two children: David Williams (Burlington) and Sherilyn (Williams) Alden of Lowell. She has seven grandchildren. They include Lisa (Williams) Hanson, Chad Williams, Kelly (Williams) Bode, Michala (Alden) Lemley, Megan (Alden) Denning, Micah Alden, and Jarrick Butler. She is also blessed with 16 great-grandchildren that she adores!

Elsie has always worked. From 1945 until 1960, she worked at Sylvania in Burlington. In 1978, she worked at Deerwood Golf Club and became clubhouse manager, a position she held until 1991.

Her hobbies have been golfing, bowling, and playing cards with friends. She still enjoys playing cards with friends and family and doing crosswords and word find puzzles. She loves attending sporting events to watch her great-grandchildren play. She also loves watching sports on the TV, especially the Iowa Hawkeyes and Tiger Woods.

And of course loves spending time with her family and her best friend, Jane Alden. Those two ladies are almost always together at various events.

Although they’ve slowed down a bit, Jane, 90, says of Elsie, “We share grandchildren and have a lot talk about. We get our hair done at the same time and we play cards with a group. She certainly is my best friend. I just love her and am so glad we have each other.”

Elsie still resides in Lowell. She still drives, and she is still able to live in her own home that her husband built. She chalks up her longevity to an everyday vitamin and staying as active as possible.

When asked how life has changed over these 100 years, she said she would have to say the technology of all kinds of different things. She remembers when a phone was on the wall and you had to crank a handle on the side of the phone to dial someone on your party line or to get the operator to connect you to who you were trying to call. Cars are also so different now than they were. People drove old Model A’s back in the day. So much has changed it’s hard to mention just a few things.

But that’s certainly not the whole story. Elsie Williams is, first and foremost, one of the nicest people I know. She always is interested in what the people she knows (and she knows almost everyone) are up to. Although she maybe has slowed a bit, she still brightens every day with her presence and her kindness. She is truly a great lady … happy birthday Elsie!

So if at all possible, join her family and friends on Feb. 22, 2025 at Deerwood Golf Club to celebrate 100 with Elsie. Join the family from 1 — 3:30 p.m. Can’t attend the festivities, cards can be sent to Elsie at 203 Clark St., Lowell, IA 52645.