A Century of Community: Lucille Broderson Looks Back at 100 Years of Small-Town Life
Tarah Ranberg
Farmer Staff Writer
Lucille Broderson looks out at a world vastly different from the one she was born into a century ago. Yet, as she celebrates her 100th birthday, her most vivid memories aren’t of historic milestones or shifting landscapes, but of people. “We used to come together,” Lucille recalls, reflecting on an era when neighbors truly knew one another and helping each other out wasn’t a rare act of kindness, but a daily way of life.
When reflecting on a century of local history, Lucille notes that the town’s strongest bond was forged during its hardest times. “In the dirty thirties, when I was growing up, no one had a nickel, and people were closer together then because no one had anything and they helped each other if someone needed something done,” Lucille recalls. “I miss that part and I thought that was a wonderful thing.”
Over the decades, Lucille has watched the town expand. Dirt roads became paved highways, and the slow pace of life quickened. While she appreciates modern conveniences, such as television, the telephone and the electric furnace, she observes that independence has a strange way of creating distance between front doors. In a world where people can buy whatever help they need, the old-fashioned habit of leaning on a neighbor has slowly faded.
Yet, throughout 10 decades of cultural and societal shifts, Lucille has kept her own internal compass firmly set. When asked about the best advice she ever received over her long life, her answer stretches back to her very upbringing. “I guess to be faithful to God and be truthful. My parents brought me up that way,” she says. “I guess just loving people. I do love people.”
Even at 100 years old, Lucille’s sharp memory and warm perspective offer a gentle reminder to the community she has called home for a century. True prosperity isn’t measured by a bank account, but by the depth of our connections to one another.
When pressed on what she hopes her lasting legacy will be after a century on this earth, Lucille offers a reply that is as humble as it is profound.
“Well, I don’t know that they will remember anything,” Lucille says with a smile. “I just hope that they remember me as someone that was worth remembering.”
For a community that has been enriched by her presence for 10 decades, remembering Lucille won’t be difficult at all.