Belleville Leap Day baby just turned 100 years old — on her 25th birthday

Her mother lived to be 102 years old. Her grandfather fought in the Union Army during the Civil War.

But Mabel Nollau has celebrated just 25 actual birthdays. She was born 36,517 days ago on a Sunday, Feb. 29, 1920 -- Leap Day.

The start of the decade known as the Roaring Twenties, 1920 was the first year of Prohibition, Woodrow Wilson was U.S. President, Joan of Arc was canonized a saint, and the 19th amendment was ratified to give women the right to vote. The League of Nations was formed that year, and so was the American Civil Liberties Union and the Negro Baseball League, and the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.

Mabel, who lives in the Memory Care Cottage at the Cedar Trails Senior Living in Freeburg, refers to herself as “Die Alte Frau,” which means “The Old Lady.” Sporting a “The Queen is 100” button with a pink ribbon, Mabel was celebrated, along with fellow residents, for the monthly February birthday party Friday afternoon.

She’s now a century old, but the birthday party her three daughters threw for her at the St. Agatha’s Parish Hall in New Athens Saturday was just her 25th, since Leap Day comes around just every four years.

She used to kid her daughters that she was younger than they were.

“She was always adamant that her birthday was not Feb. 28 or March 1,” said her oldest daughter, Barbara Aumann.

A rich life

Born on a farm north of Valmeyer, the former Mabel Charlotte Boedeker grew up with two older brothers, Lester, who died at age 84, and Clarence, who died at age 78. Their mother, Elizabeth Boedeker, lived in Waterloo and died at age 102 in 1986. Their father, William, worked the land.

“They were not rich, but they always had what they needed,” Aumann said.

Mabel and her second husband William Nollau settled on Old Collinsville Road in Belleville and were together 41 years until his death at age 81 in 1989.

She was briefly married before and had one daughter, Barbara Aumann, named for a great-grandmother. Now 76, Aumann recalled moving from her grandmother’s house when her mom remarried – she was about 3 1/2 years old, she said.

Mabel had two more daughters -- Judy Berowski, named after Judy Garland, and Mary Beth Kujawski, named after both grandmothers.

Aumann attended Zion Lutheran School – it was either that or a one-room schoolhouse, she said. Judy and Mary Beth attended Whiteside School when it was built in 1960. They all graduated from Belleville Township High School, with Mary Beth at East and the other two what became the West campus.

Mabel was a homemaker who cared for her family.

“She was a good cook, not a gourmet, but good food,” Aumann said. “She always had a garden. We had chickens.”

The girls fondly remembered their mother’s homemade pies.

“She was a wonderful pie baker,” Kujawski said. “Fruit pies, lemon meringue – and the crust made with lard. It was flaky and beautiful, melt-in-your-mouth. I loved when she took leftover pie crust and sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar.”

Their mom still likes pie, but as to her favorite?

“She said the one that’s on the table,” Aumann said.

Celebration of a century

Pie wasn’t on the birthday party menu. Instead, they had a decorated birthday cake, courtesy of Sam’s Club.

“When you are 100, the cake is free,” Berowski said.

In addition, Mary Beth’s daughter Jen Steinbaugh baked frog-shaped cookies to commemorate Leap Day.

The festive meal had a Roaring 20s theme: Charleston Chicken, Model T Mostaccioli, Buster’s Pulled Pork (For Buster Wortman -- legendary local gangster, gambler and bootlegger), Capone’s Potato Salad, and Jazzy Salad, Berowski said. And Prohibition beverages.

Her wit intact, Mabel alluded to toasting her longevity.

“I’ll have one to show I’m not kaput yet,” Mabel said with a smile.

Berowski said their dad once threw their mom a birthday party on the actual Leap Day – on a Saturday night when she turned 40. Where was the birthday girl when guests arrived to surprise her?

“Downstairs underneath the hair dryer!” she said.

The daughters are all retired now – Barbara, who lives in Mesa, Ariz., worked as a registered nurse; Judy, who lives in New Athens,; and Mary Beth, who lives in Hecker, worked as a secretary for car dealerships, then later babysat her grandchildren.

Mabel’s four grandchildren include Judy’s sons Scott Berowski of Irondale, Mo., and Mark Berowski of Smithton, Ill.; and Mary Beth’s children Charlie Kujawski of Hecker and Jen Steinbaugh of Waterloo.

She has eight great-grandchildren: Christopher, Alex and Allison Berowski; Ashlyn, Kylie and Cadence Kujawski; and Layla and Noah Steinbaugh.

Their photos line the walls of Mabel’s room. She moved to Cedar Trails six years ago.

Much to remember

Other than dementia that affects her short-term memory, Mabel has had good health over the years.

Aumann said one of the scary incidents they remember was the West Frankfort coal mine disaster on Dec. 21, 1951, in which 119 miners were killed. Her stepfather was the superintendent of Mine Rescue, based in Belleville, and had to go there after the methane explosion.

“Mom remembers this,” Mary Beth said.

When her children were young, Mabel was rushed to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital when she hemorrhaged from a goiter, an enlargement of her thyroid gland.

Their Aunt Helen, who lived across the street, came over to pray with them while their mother was in the hospital, Barbara recalled.

“Dad said we had to help, so I swept the kitchen floor,” Berowski said.

But it had no lasting effect other than a scar on her neck.

The girls said their mom had another surgery for varicose veins. They agree that she’s doing pretty good at 100.

Mabel looked at her daughters and said: “I’m not dead yet.” Then gave a little laugh.

This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 5:00 AM.