PORT ANGELES — Fun and good health habits have sustained Florence Ninke through her century of life.
Ninke, who will turn 100 on Tuesday, said she has always taken care to develop good habits.
“I attribute my good health to exercise and good food,” Ninke said.
“I did water aerobics three times a week for 13 years and did all sorts of hiking.
“I eat oatmeal every morning and have a cocktail every night — and a lot of fun in between.
“All that at the suggestion of my doctor.”
Ninke will celebrate the century in style from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5, with an open house at her home, 3829 Canyon Edge Drive, Port Angeles.
Anyone who wants to visit is welcome.
She requests no gifts or flowers, but if someone wishes to do something in her honor, she asks donations be sent to Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, 540 E. Eighth St., Port Angeles, WA 98362.
Born Feb. 1, 1911, to Thomas and Annie Gundersen, who moved to the United States from Norway, Ninke was the 12th of 13 children.
She has survived all of her five brothers and seven sisters.
Ninke has long had connections to the North Olympic Peninsula. Her husband, whom she married in 1933, had family who lived in Forks.
She met and married Orville Ninke in Milwaukee, Wis., in the midst of the Great Depression.
“We were secretly married,” she said.
“We both had jobs, and at the time, President Roosevelt didn’t want more than one person in a household working — you know, to spread the wealth a little.
“So, we got married secretly, and we had an apartment.
“But he kept all his clothes and stuff at his mother’s house about two blocks away.”
The couple met while out dancing, a recreation they enjoyed throughout their marriage.
For their 50th wedding anniversary, the couple held a big to-do in Port Angeles.
“Because our wedding was secret, I always said that if we made it to 50, we’d have a big party,” she said.
Dancing, food, family and friends filled the day, she said.
The pair were married 52 years before his death in 1985.
When jobs dried up in Wisconsin, the couple opted to move to Forks, where Orville’s family had a house ready for them.
The first time the Ninkes lived on the West End, he worked for a shingle mill, and she worked at many places downtown — including the drug store.
Then they moved to Portland, Ore., where he enlisted in the National Guard, and they opened up a gift shop.
While making “quite a profit,” the couple had an offer from a local who wanted to buy the shop from them.
“We called Orville’s stepfather over to talk to us to find out whether it was a good idea or not,” Florence said.
“I’ll never forget this — he walked in and said, ‘Sell, man, sell. You look like hell.'”
So the couple took the offer and moved back to Forks, where Florence opened a dress shop.
When they decided to retire 17 years later, they picked up and moved to Port Angeles in the late 1970s.
“We were more used to the city life, and we thought we would move to Seattle, but we had a lot of friends here in Port Angeles, so we decided to move here,” she said.
“That way, we would be able to get there easier but would still be closer to our friends.”
Now, Ninke lives on her own, getting around her home using a walker but independent with the help of a home health nurse and her neighbors.
Lesa Oppelt, who has been her neighbor for 2 ½ decades, considers Ninke adopted family.
“She comes over for all the holidays, and we spend a lot of time with each other,” Oppelt said.
Oppelt, along with a host of family and friends, plans to attend Ninke’s party.
Many family members will travel from throughout the country for the event, including many of her 149 nieces, nephews, great-nephews and great-nieces.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
