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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 28, 2005 A century of living By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings When Leeda Bishop celebrates her birthday this weekend, she will be marking an anniversary few humans ever live long enough to experience. On Saturday, Bishop tuns 100 years old, though one wouldn't know she were that old by talking to her. Leeda bishop, a resident of Mountain View Assisted Living Center, will celebrate her 100th birthday on Saturday. She settled in Ashland during the Great Depression, and has seen plenty of change in the past 70 years. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings "I've been around a long time, that's for sure," she said from her home at the Mountain View Assisted Living Center in Ashland. Bishop says she hasn't been sick since she was 9 and contracted malaria. Other than that, she says eating right and living well has allowed her to stay healthy her entire life. "I've got good genes." Bishop was born in Golden in 1905. She has lived through ten decades, 17 U.S. presidents (she says she has voted in every election since Herbert Hoover was elected), two world wars and many smaller conflicts, the popularization of the automobile and the invention of radio, TV and - finally - the Internet. Her parents were pioneer folk, she said, who were more accustomed with the horse-drawn wagon than with the car. Her mother came to Oregon from Wisconsin when she was just 9 years old, in 1867. Bishop said she remembered the Model T, but her family didn't have one when she was young, primarily because there was no bridge yet over Butter Creek, which led to her family's ranch, and, as she put it, "the car didn't know how to swim as well as the horse." But Bishop, who has seen a lot of change in her century of existence, was not surprised when the car soon became king. "It came along right when it should have," she said. "It's just part of life." She moved with her family to Stockton, Calif., when she was still young but returned to Oregon with her husband in 1929 to beat the Great Depression the old-fashioned way. They moved to the Rogue Valley because they both had family here and the lifestyle allowed for easier living. "We came here during the Depression because you could grow whatever you needed here," she said, matter of factly. "And what you couldn't grow, you could trade with your neighbor." Ashland was a town of 4,400 at that time. She said the downtown looked pretty much the same, though, of course the businesses have all changed over. The college was already here and the Shakespeare Festival was on its way. She lived on a farm without electricity and attended school with 11 other students in a one-room schoolhouse. Bishop said even back then, everyone in Ashland drove. She remembered there was one fruit store near the current library. Of course, that was Harry and David's, a company she would work for for 26 years of her long life. Bishop remembers soldiers leaving the Ashland depot for both world wars and she says she even remembers the specific bear that Grizzly Peak and Bear Creek were named for. Her husband, Clayton Bishop, died 38 years ago. She raised two sons, one of whom has already succumbed to old age. The other, Jack, age 82, is in town from Texas this week for his mom's birthday. Leeda Bishop may be turning 100 this week, but she still keeps fairly active, walks around her complex, occasionally regales strangers with tales of the old days, paints watercolors and even cares for a healthy supply of potted plants. When asked what she thought about having a 100th birthday party, she replied, "I never figured I'd have one of those," she said. "You just don't think about that kind of thing. I learned a long time ago that the world will take care of itself if you just take care of yourself." Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Free Musick Downloads Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress tcg student loan consolidation home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms Tatoos student loans African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Student Loans Tatoo Poker Games Homeschooling Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams