Rose celebrates 90 years with a surprise

WINFIELD — There are not many surprises left in life for someone who is celebrating their 90th Birthday, But for Rose Custer, her special day included double surprises of not only a party, but a surprise party. Thanks to the efforts of a dear friend, Rose enjoyed her 90th birthday after a life already full-to the brim with experience, happiness, and learning.

  Buy Photo

Thinking she was going out to lunch her friend Dixie Klopfenstein, Rose was surprised when she walked into El Mariachi restaurant in Winfield to find 20 friends and relatives gathered singing Happy Birthday thanks to Dixie’s special arrangements. A slightly overwhelmed Rose said she had never had a birthday party, and certainly didn’t expect the surprise that greeted her.

Born in Reno, Nevada in 1934, Rose moved with her parents to Winfield when she was only a baby along with her older brother Gilbert Junior Bates, who was about three. Gilbert is now 93 and lives in California. They keep in touch by a daily phone call.

Both Rose and her brother graduated from Winfield Consolidated School. Following graduation Rose attended Burlington Beauty Academy and had her own shop in Columbus Junction for several years.

She married a military man and for the next several years her role as a military wife took her to five different states as her husband transferred to various locations. Rose said her favorite location was Charleston, South Carolina. She,” liked seeing the Historic Sites. The large Navey base was located there, and we got to go on ships at port. I went on a submarine with my children.” Though she really couldn’t explain why, she said Massachusetts was her least favorite location.

While not a favorite or least favorite location, her time in Abilene, Texas was certainly memorable.

“We were living in a mobile home park outside the base, and I saw my first huge tornado,” Rose shared.

She went on to explain that it was headed straight for the park and with no storm cellar they were told to go lay in the ditch. Thankfully, shortly before it reached the park it split and went in two different directions.

Rose had two children, a son Dusty (deceased) and a daughter, Christine, who lives in Oklahoma. Rose moved back to Winfield in 1972 and instead of taking up hairdressing she decided to change careers and went back to school to earn her teaching degree. She first attended Muscatine Community College and finished her education at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant. She accomplished this while her two children were still in school.

Rose started her teaching career in Stockport and later moved to the Columbus Community School District where she taught fifth grade for 24 years before being transferred to the school in Columbus Junction where she taught two more years before retiring. During her career teaching, it is easy to see that Rose was a dedicated teacher.

“I loved the kids,” she said.

And she demonstrated that by involving her students in various activities above and beyond ordinary lessons. One example that stands out in Rose’s memory is the time she had the students work in pairs to act out a chapter in the book, Trouble River.

“They chose partners to act out a chapter of their choice,” Rose explained. “Then they made props and decided how to dress. They acted out the play for the two other fifth grade classes from the Columbus Junction building and parents. Knowing that not all parents could come on a weekday I had the play video taped so I could send it home with students and their parents could watch it.”

“The project was a real success and characters from the book rode a raft down the river and grandma (Sena Cummings, daughter of the late Brian Cummings who taught at Columbus Junction) clung to her rocking chair while Dewey guided it down the river,” she shared.

Rose described the props the fifth-graders made. Some of the boys took the cardboard from rolls of carpet, lashed them together for the raft, put a blue plastic tablecloth under it for the river and a rocking chair on it for grandma to cling to. Rose laughed remembering how grandma “rocked and rolled” in her chair as the raft was going down the river.

Organizing it was no small feat. First, she had to get permission from principal and the superintendent. Then buses had to be secured to bring the students from Columbus Junction to Cotter, and the cooks needed informed that there would be approximately 50 more students for lunch. Despite the hurdles Rose had to clear the whole event was a great success.

This is just one example of the many ways Rose incorporated things into her lessons to keep the students interested and involved in their studies.

“I liked to provide activities to enhance a basic lesson as I could,” Rose said. “I had no electronic equipment or computers to use in my classroom. I taught all subjects and would eat lunch with my class. Then I would do noon recess or other duties as assigned. I graded my students’ assignments daily. I had an aid briefly to help usually with math.”

With her years of experience and love for the career, Rose’s advice for to today’s teachers is to “Love your students and continue to meet their individual needs.”

Rose lives alone in Winfield having lost her second husband, Wes Custer in 1997. She is a remarkable lady who could easily pass for much younger than 90 years old.

As a youth she took dancing lessons for several years. Her folks drove her to Burlington every week where she took ballet, tap and acrobatics at the Hazel Mae Studio. During the summers of her junior and senior years of high school she traveled in a company with nine other dancers to entertain on a circuit that included several Western State.

“We were part of the Grandstand show entertainment as you see at Old Thresher,” explained Rose.

They started in North Dakota and ended in late summer in Wyoming. Rose recalled being two weeks late for the start of school and having to make up her studies.

The 10 girls, along with the owner and driver, rode in a “stretch out” which Rose said was a little like a limo but not nearly as nice. All the props and equipment were transported in a huge box truck. They were paid a salary each week and had to pay for their expenses including meals and hotels. Rose also emphasized that they were “heavily chaperoned.” and their costumes were extremely modest.

“Nothing showed like it does on TV today,” Rose stated.

Her dancing career has served her well through the years. She continues to practice her dancing skills and can easily touch the floor with her whole hands, not just her fingertips, and to everyone’s amazement she can still do the splits as she demonstrated at her birthday party. When the weather permits, she also takes walks around her neighborhood and can drive her car to get her hair done and other errands around the area.

When asked what she attributes her long and active life to she replied, “We were brought up to eat the food from our gardens, lots of vegetables and fruits. I’ve not brought pop and other junk food. We walked to school and everywhere and we had work to do at home. Being active and eating right is important.”

As for her advice on how to live a good life, Rose says, “Treat others the way you would like to be treated. With kindness and respect.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com