Woman, 103, attributes longevity to genetics, clean living

Lucille Salter of Henderson will celebrate her 104th birthday on June 27

Richard Brian / Special to the Sun

Longtime Boulder City and Henderson resident Lucille Salter poses for a photo on June 17, 2009. She turns 104 on June 27.

By Jean Reid Norman (contact)

Saturday, June 20, 2009 | midnight

Lucille Salter

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

When Lucille Salter was 4, growing up on a farm in Iowa, a wound from a pitchfork that punctured her leg while playing wasn’t reason enough for a trip to town.

It was 1909, and they would have had to make the trip in a horse-drawn wagon, but it wasn’t necessary.

“My mother cured it with iodine,” said Salter. “It took care of it, too. In those days, you didn’t run to the doctor for things like that.”

That is only one of the ways Salter has seen the world change in more than a century of living. She celebrates her 104th birthday on June 27 at the Prestige Assisted Living Center in Henderson, where she has lived the past three years.

She is one of two centenarians at the center.

As a girl, she attended a one-room schoolhouse in Reliance, S.D., and was valedictorian of her two-student graduating class.

She moved to Boulder City in 1931 with her then-husband, who worked on the construction of Hoover Dam, and two daughters. She and the girls lived in Las Vegas until a home was built for them in Boulder City.

Her first marriage ended amicably, she said, and by the time she was a single mother, her parents and brothers lived in Boulder City as well.

She met her husband of 60 years, Ross Salter, in 1940.

She was a telephone operator and he was a ranger for the Bureau of Reclamation, required to call in to the phone company every hour. They met face-to-face at a St. Patrick’s Day dance and were married in 1946.

They moved to Henderson in 1955, one street over from Lorna Kesterson, former Henderson mayor and managing editor of the Henderson Home News.

They had been friends in Boulder City and remained neighbors until three years ago, when Salter moved into assisted living after her husband died at 99 years old. Kesterson continues to visit Salter frequently.

Salter agrees that some of her longevity can be attributed to genetics — her mother lived well into her 90s, and her older brother lived to be 100.

But she also credits married life for lengthening her years.

“Marriage helped me live long,” she said.

She has outlived both of her daughters, but she still has two granddaughters in Henderson.

She recommends eating well and refraining from smoking and drinking to live a long life.

“I didn’t really plan for it,” she said. “It planned me. I just keep living.”

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By Journey

6/20/09 at 8:21 a.m.

Suggest removal

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lucille. You are absolutely lovely and I really enjoyed reading the story of your life.
By Bodytalk555

6/20/09 at 8:21 p.m.

Suggest removal

Happy Birthday Lucille. Stay healthy and happy!
By Babyboomer

6/21/09 at 4:55 p.m.

Suggest removal

When she was a little girl...food was "fresh".No packaging,no 15 letter words in among the ingredients.So much was not available or even thought of. On top of that...good genes. She has seen so much in 104 years for the good and for the bad.I wish you many more years of good health.I would love to sit down and listen to all you have to say.
By DS

6/22/09 at 6:08 p.m.

Suggest removal

WOW, what an inspiration. Congrats!
By WelshGirl

6/24/09 at 3:19 a.m.

Suggest removal

Happy Birthday Lucille, although I must admit that married life could be a factor in the early death of many people, due to the stress lol