Seattle couple turns 101 years old together


The average person in North America lives to about 79 years old. The average age of a retirement home resident in North America is in the mid-80s. But one Seattle couple has long passed both those benchmarks, and recently celebrated their 101st birthdays.

As reported recently in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, Joe and Marion Epler were born on February 18, 1911, and February 27, 2011, respectively. They live at a Seattle assisted living community, Ida Culver House Broadview.

The Eplers celebrated their birthdays together on February 26 at their assisted living community, and were joined by about 100 friends and family members. At the party, a jazz band entertained guests, and well-wishers enjoyed dancing, food, and even a guest appearance by members of Seattle’s firefighters, who came to acknowledge Joe’s past service as a firefighter.

“We don’t move as fast as we used to but we do manage to have fun,” Joe told the newspaper. Both Joe and Marion had been married previously, and married each other 20 years ago, when they were both 81 years old. On their 90th birthdays, the couple took a trip around the world, and in December they both volunteer raising money for local charities.