Ruth Anderson of the Hultquist Place assisted living program recently turned 104 years old. The Jamestown woman overcame COVID after testing positive for the virus in December 2020. Submitted photo

Ruth Anderson, who recently turned 104 years old, attributes her long life to positivity and happiness.

On April 10, Anderson her birthday at the Hultquist Place assisted living program on the Lutheran campus in Jamestown. Anderson was able to celebrate in the company of other Hultquist Place residents and staff, complete with a tiara, cake, ice cream and more. She was also able to have an in-person visitation with some family and connect with others via video chatting to celebrate her special day.

On Dec. 5, 2020, Anderson was diagnosed with COVID, and of all the things she has witnessed and experienced throughout the years, she said she is most proud of the fact that over the last months she has fully recovered.

Anderson was born on April 10, 1917. The seventh of nine children in her family, she grew up in a home near the old Jamestown airport and attended Jamestown High School. Anderson currently has an artist’s rendition of her childhood home on the wall of her apartment, as well as an original copy of her baptismal certificate written in Swedish.

She met her future husband, Ted Anderson, through her brother who worked with him in milk delivery. He picked up milk bottles for her family, and to show her affection she used to slip notes inside the bottles for him to read, although sometimes another man would find the notes since they ordered milk from two dairies.

The two were married on April 17, 1942, at Trinity Lutheran Church, then located on Fourth Street in Jamestown.

Her husband was in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, and that profession saw them living throughout the country in Denver, Savannah, Florida, Atlantic City and California before permanently settling in their Wilton Avenue home in Jamestown.

Anderson was employed at Weber Knapp for a number of years, while her husband worked for the City Parks Department before working for the post office. The Andersons have one son, David, who resides in Indiana.

The Andersons traveled to Naples or Englewood, Fla. every year until 2001. They recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. The family tradition of taking photos near the stadium on Falconer Street was carried on for the 65th anniversary.

They also have three grandsons, Greg, Matt, and Christopher, who are all involved with civil engineering work and live in Colorado and New York City.

The Andersons moved to LSS in the Lindgarden Apartments in Oct. 1990. She enjoys reading and getting books from the Falconer library. Her favorite book is Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind,” which was adapted into the 1939 movie of the same name. Her favorite color is yellow.

In reflecting on her long life, Anderson relayed that her most unusual job was picking strawberries at a farm for 3 cents per quart on East Oak Hill Road that was owned by her cousins. She said that the biggest influence on her life was her oldest sister, Dorothy, who taught her many things. According to her, television is what has changed the most throughout her life.

The words by which Anderson continues to live by are “Be honest.”