The wit and charm of Evelyn Laber, 95

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

Evelyn Laber is quick with a joke.

“My daughter spent 10 years in prison,” she quipped. Which is true, but she worked there as a deputy sheriff.

Laber, 95, stays plenty busy, even at her age.Whether it’s knitting baby beanies, which she gives to the hospital, or playing cards with her friends (they’re all in their 90s), or going to exercises classes at the Senior Center in Columbia Falls,  she’s on the move.

This coming Labor Day she’s going to a “Laber Day” family reunion in the Denver area, where her two  sons, Glen and Steve, live.

Laber grew up in New Hampshire, a state she still tries to visit every year.

That’s where she met her husband, Alfred. He wanted to pursue a career in forestry.  At the time, it was cheaper to go the University of Montana’s School of Forestry, so they moved out West and stayed.

He went on to have a career with the Forest Service as Laber raised the kids. She also taught kindergarten for eight years, which was a good job with a family, because she could teach when the kids were at school, so their schedules aligned.

One of her favorite things to do is bake. Her favorite is Toll House chocolate chip cookies.

She trades with the Kiser family, who live across the street from her Columbia Falls home.

“I do the baking and she (Robin Kiser) does the cooking,” she said. 

The Kisers took her bowling for her 94th birthday and miniature golf for her 95th. 

The golf was easier, she noted. Bowling balls are just too heavy.

The Kisers are always there to help, she said.

“I don’t know what I’d do without them,” she said.

Longevity runs in the family. 

Her mother lived into her 90s and she has a younger sister who is 91 and an older sister who is 96.

Today, it’s back to the baking.

“There’s no such thing as too many chocolate chip cookies,” she said.

Her secret to longevity?

“Use it or lose is my theory,” she said.