Elthalita William 90th

WILLIAM 90th

Oct. 11, 1926, a tiny girl was born to Joseph and Julia Wright, the second child and the first daughter, to be followed by four more brothers and two sisters. The family lived in the small community of Toledo, Ore. Her father worked as a dairy farmhand and in road construction. They named her Elthalita.

Her early years were happy ones, and this attitude of serenity and peace pervades her life today. Her schooling for the first five grades was in Toledo at the Chitwood Elementary School. In Edenville, Ore., she completed school through ninth grade.

The family moved to Tillamook, Ore., where she was able to attend the church school for one year, transferring to the local high school for the next two years. She left school then to marry the love of her life and establish her own family.

To this union was born three boys: Paul, Bernard Jr., and David. A baby girl, Mary, finished the family. The children all live in the area and are attentive to their widowed mother.

Elthalita was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church at age 11 at Toledo and has always been an active participant in church activities. She is an experienced seamstress, making baby quilts and repairing donated clothing for the local Adventist Community Services center. She volunteers every Tuesday and Thursdays at the front desk as she helps serve the needy of Tillamook County. She is a faithful church and Sabbath School member at the Tillamook Church.

In spite of some arthritis in her hip, she is physically active and lives alone, managing her own home. Never having learned to drive, she depends upon family and friends for transportation, but she is in generally good health. She is a talented artist and paints in oils on canvas or wood, creating still-life and landscape pictures.

Her 90th birthday was celebrated quietly at home, and she says she was delighted to receive many birthday greetings plus a corsage at church from family and friends.