****This story was compiled and written by Victoria LaFave***
Bishop Noa Home Assisted Living resident Lurline (Lancour) Pepin of Escanaba turned 103 years old on March 26.
As if that’s not amazing enough, she is one of 17 children—of which six are sets of twins!
Lurline’s brother Tom—one of the twins, (Tom’s late twin sister was Yvonne) is now 87 years old; he and his wife Betsy visit Lurline several times a week and help care for her. When Tom was a baby, their roles were reversed.
Lurline—the oldest girl and the third oldest of 17, explained: “When I was older, and my mother had babies, she had so much to do with taking care of all of the kids that sometimes she handed them to me because I was the oldest girl, and said, ‘Here—you take care of them. And I just loved taking care of the babies,” she smiled.
“Sometimes,” she laughed, looking at her brother Tom, “they called me their second mother.”
The most telling example of Lurline being her siblings’ ‘second mother’ was in 1941. Lurline’s mother Eva had just had her 17th child, Judy. Also having a son in the War and nine young children (including twins) at home at the time, naturally, Eva was feeling overwhelmed. Being that Lurline was twenty years older than the new baby, Eva brought baby Judy to Lurline and asked her if she could care for her for a while.
Lurline happily obliged, taking care of her baby sister for two months in her own home in Escanaba. Whenever the family wanted to see the baby, they would simply drive from Osier to visit them. By helping each other out, the family got through hard times.
“It was tough sometimes,” Lurline said, “but that was life back then. You just did what had to be done, and helped each other.”
Everyone in Lurline’s family agrees that she was always willing to help care for other people’s children when they needed her. In fact, one of Lurline’s late sisters, Phyllis Derouin had nine children (including her own set of twins), and would often call on Lurline to help, as did her late brother Floyd, who had seven kids.
Caring for others just came naturally for Lurline; Tom and Betsy say it’s because it was Lurline’s natural role –to help care for children especially. They feel we all have specific roles; theirs right now is to help care for Lurline.
“I think we’ve been appointed by God to watch over Lurline,” Betsy said. “In fact, I think everyone is appointed by God for a certain purpose; Lurline’s role throughout her life was to be a caregiver.”
Lurline was also a wife and mother herself. She was married to Wilfred Pepin in September 1940; Wilfred passed away in April 1997. The couple adopted a boy named John, who died in Vietnam in 1971. After her husband passed away, Lurline’s sisters would help her. But most of her sisters have since passed away (four were also residents of the Bishop Noa Home; her sister Rita, who lives in Wisconsin, is her last living sister.)
Lurline’s secret to longevity At 103, Lurline has a simple secret to her longevity.
“I think it’s all the oatmeal I eat,” she smiled. “I have a big bowl every morning, with a little bit of milk—and brown sugar.”
Another one of her secrets is her tenacity. Lurline has lived through her share of tribulations, including losing her son, her husband, and 14 of her siblings. She also had heart by-pass surgery, and suffered a stroke. But even these setbacks couldn’t break her spirit. A patriotic woman, her husband was a veteran, and seven of her brothers, including Tom, were in the military as well.
Though her positive attitude and healthy diet undoubtedly contribute to her longevity, Lurline also appreciates the great care she receives at the Bishop Noa Home.
“At least one of the Sisters [Sister Marie Kim Nguyen, RN, Sister Dorothea Jang, and Sister Gloria Schultz] comes in every day to visit me here,” she smiled. “I like them very much.”
After giving much of her life caring for others, Lurline now depends on the kindness of her family members and the compassionate caregivers at the Bishop Noa Home.
Fittingly, Lurline’s advice on living a good life is simple: “Help each other. Back in the good old days, everybody looked after each other. Those were the days. We should get back to that.”
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