WWII vet celebrates his 105th birthday

PIGEON FALLS, Wis. (WEAU) - Coffee, balloons and friends set the scene as people gathered to celebrate a well-known Pigeon Fall resident’s 105th birthday.

Reynolds Tomter kicked off his 105th birthday at his favorite local restaurant, My Second Home Bar & Grill, on Tuesday morning.

As a WWII vet, the only surviving member of the Pigeon Falls Lions Club and an avid Packers fan, Tomter is excited to celebrate. “It is something I’ll never ever forget,” Tomter said. “Yeah, it’s unreal, this is what you call a small town gathering.”

Tomter says he is enjoying his old age. “Everybody waits on me and comes and greeting me with good things to say,” Tomter said. “So don’t be afraid anyone to get to be real old.”

Even at his age, Tomter is always finding a way to stay busy.

“Yeah, he is very active everyday,” Tomter’s daughter, Julie Warner, said. “He said, when my mom passed, he could have been depressed, but he just made up his mind to get out, go to his car everyday. He didn’t know where he was going, but he’d go somewhere for coffee.”

Tomter’s secret to his reaching his age is being with friends and drinking lots of coffee. “I enjoy every day and I am out and about everyday,” Tomter said. “and I started out here at this restaurant every morning, that’s seven days a week, I’m here at 7:30 in the morning with the guys and that makes life a lot of fun.”

His family says he is known in the community for his involvement and his positive attitude. “I always say he is absolutely positive about everything, unless the Packers are losing, that’s the only time I ever hear him say anything negative,” Warner said.

His advice for younger generations is to get active in the community. “It’s so important that everybody works together and that just makes life so pleasant to live,” Tomter said. “You’re helping making it that way if you become active in the community affairs.”

Tomter says he is happy to be surrounded by friends and family and looks forward to seeing everyone next year.

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