This photo was taken when Virginia Nessenthaler was in her 20s. SCOTT NEVILLE/THE FREE LANCE-STAR
Fredericksburg native makes big plans for her 100th birthday party, just like her mother did before her
Date published: 5/16/2008
By CATHY DYSON
Virginia Nessenthaler hasn't gotten any feistier as the years have gone by.
She's always been one to voice her opinions and is not about to change on the eve of her 100th birthday.
Mrs. Nessenthaler--it wouldn't seem proper to follow newspaper style and refer to her by her last name alone--has let her family know exactly what food, music and entertainment she wants at her May 24 bash, to be held at Fredericksburg Baptist Church.
She has been inviting guests for the past three or four years. About five years ago, she tried to hire a caterer, but couldn't book anyone that far in advance.
"I'm beginning to get excited," the Fredericksburg native said. "This is probably the last big party I'm gonna have."
Like her mother before her, Mrs. Nessenthaler planned to do it up right when she hit triple digits. Her mother, the late Aggie Stephens, wanted to hire an orchestra and rent out the National Guard Armory, but things were scaled back after she got sick.
Her 100th-birthday party was held at her home across from the University of Mary Washington, where generations of the family have lived across the street from each other.
That was in 1984, and "Mama Aggie" worried about the same thing that makes Mrs. Nessenthaler nervous.
The food. Will there be enough?
Both had a reputation for feeding the masses, and both gave family members specific instructions about their parties.
Mrs. Nessenthaler, for instance, wants delicate ham biscuits, not big, bulky rolls. She's requested trays of finger sandwiches and plenty of deviled eggs.
She's already picked the pianist, who will play the same kind of music she listens to every Saturday night on "The Lawrence Welk Show."
She has asked her granddaughter's husband to sing an Elvis number, and one of her great-granddaughters to tap dance. A friend from Philadelphia will play the guitar.
If she could, Mrs. Nessenthaler would get up and dance the Charleston, or maybe a polka--she was known for her polkas--but she's been in a wheelchair for more than a year.
Until recently, Mrs. Nessenthaler lived alone, with her only child, Jane Mann, just across the street. At 98, she cooked, drove and got around with no problem. She recovered quickly from two knee replacements when she was 92.
After a fall in 2007, she lost strength in her legs. She went to Greenfield Assisted Living of Stafford several times for rehabilitation until her 70-year-old daughter had her own health problems.
Mrs. Nessenthaler moved into Greenfield six weeks ago and has kept busy, attending every activity.
Still, she wants to be home so "she can control things," Mann said, and know her daughter's every activity.
"She still seems like a little child to me," said Mrs. Nessenthaler, who seems perfectly lucid about every topic but her daughter. "You can't make me believe she's grown up."
Virginia Nessenthaler will turn 100 on May 27. Her mother, Aggie Stephens, turned 100 in April 1984, then died three months later.
Mrs. Nessenthaler's secret to longevity lies in the Ten Commandments. By honoring her mother and father--and caring for them until their deaths--she believes she earned the promised reward of a long life.
Mrs. Nessenthaler's daughter, Jane Mann, believes the women in her family stayed so healthy because they stayed so busy.
"They worked hard all their lives, right into old age," she said.
A few things about Virginia Nessenthaler:
1. She's been a member of Fredericksburg Baptist Church for 80 years.
2. She loves gummy worms.
3. She controls the TV remote at home, no matter who's there.
4. She's picky. The last time her daughter, Jane Mann, took her shopping for a coat, the two went all over Virginia, then left the state. They finally found something she liked in New York City's Garment District.
5. She loved the family lot at Fairview Beach, which her father bought for $35. When relatives tried to tell her it's worth more than $300,000 now, Nessenthaler wouldn't accept it.
"It's $3,000," she insisted, then rolled her eyes when they mentioned the correct amount again. "They're wrong."
I remember her(posted by
Justiceforall
, May 16, 2008 8:32 am)
Mrs. Nessenthaler registered me for the draft in 1966. She knew my grandparents, as my grandfather was head of the Spotsylvania draft board during WWII and my grandmother was one of the secretarys. A kind lady to an 18 year old who loved to share her storys. Recenty I saw the grave of her husband at Oak Hill and wondered why there was not a final date on the stone for her. Now I know. It is wonderful to have someone who has lived the experience of Fredericksburg for a century. Wish her many more years
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