Western Wisconsin woman celebrates 100th birthday

MONDOVI, Wis. (WEAU) - A western Wisconsin woman is celebrating a major milestone birthday.

Freda Werlein turned 100 years old today.

Werlein, who has spent most of her life living in the Durand and Mondovi areas, gathered with friends and family at the American Lutheran Home in Mondovi to celebrate the centenarian. Freda and her late husband, Frank, lived on a farm, and later in life she worked at a canning factory and in the kitchen at a western Wisconsin school.

“I never thought I would make it to 100,” Werlein said.

One of her granddaughters said she is a great grandma to have.

“She’s always been a jokester,” Emily Punke, Werlein’s granddaughter, said. “She’s always ready for a joke, can take a jab, can give a jab. She’s just been a very special grandma to have.”

Werlein has three children and many grandchildren, enjoys playing bingo, and said the best day of her life was marrying her late husband, Frank.

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