By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Cassopolis Vigilant
CASSOPOLIS -- Monday, June 2 was declared Christine Hauser Day in the Village of Cassopolis, the day the former resident of more than 50 years turned 100.
Coming to Cassopolis during the depression in 1934, Christine and her husband Henry raised two daughters and a son and lived on S. East and then S. Rowland. She now has 10 grandchildren, 20 greats and six great-great-grandchildren.
She went to Parsons Business College in Kalamazoo and worked at a pant company there making knickers for famous golfers -- for $18 a week.
Now she likes to crochet afghans, cheer for Notre Dame and plays bridge in clubs in both Cassopolis and Edwardsburg.
She is still very interested in politics too and received letters from Bill Clinton and other elected officials for her birthday.
A widow since 1962, she has lived at Eagle Lake with her daughter Marilyn Cobb for 25 years. Daughter Carol (Bruce) Smith, of the Cass County Council on Aging (COA) board, also lives in Edwardsburg. Her son Thomas Hauser lives in San Diego, Calif.
More than 300 people stopped in at her birthday party at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Edwardsburg last Sunday, said Tim Bennett of the COA.
He is playing tapes of her memories on his radio show between 8 and 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings on Q 92, at 92.1 FM.
Imagine watching someone fly for the first time, Bennett said, or talking about how the family gathered around the radio in the evenings.
Hopefully getting a new knee on June 23 isn't going to slow her down too much.