Couchene celebrates century of life
Shirley Couchene smiles while cutting the honorary first piece of her 100th birthday cake. The occasion -- planned largely by her daughter Connie, at right -- brought friends and relatives from near and far on Saturday to a hall rented in Escanaba. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Decor and attendees are seen at the USW hall on Shirley Couchene's 100th birthday. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Card bingo had been oft-played by Shirley Couchene and her children, and it made an appearance at Saturday's party for the 100-year-old. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
There were four cakes made for the crowd at Shirley Couchene's birthday party at the USW hall in Escanaba. Here, the birthday girl looks at the nearest one, which reads, "Happy birthday, Mom." (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Old photos of Shirley Couchene.
Guessing games, puzzles and other gammes
"Can I take a picture of just you, sitting and smiling?" the Daily Press photographer asked Shirley Couchene on her 100th birthday. "You'll have to tell me something funny, then," the centenarian replied. "Okay — what do you call a fish with no eyes? (pause) FSH." Here Couchene is repeating the punchline -- "fish" with no "i"s. "Fssshhhh."
A daughter-in-law named Kathy reportedly worked on the multiple tri-fold presentation boards displaying details about Shirley Couchene's life and the 100 years throughout.
Making an announcement that her mother's 100th birthday cake and ice cream will soon be served.
Shirley Couchene smiles while cutting the honorary first piece of her 100th birthday cake. The occasion -- planned largely by her daughter Connie, at right -- brought friends and relatives from near and far on Saturday to a hall rented in Escanaba. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Decor and attendees are seen at the USW hall on Shirley Couchene's 100th birthday. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Card bingo had been oft-played by Shirley Couchene and her children, and it made an appearance at Saturday's party for the 100-year-old. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
There were four cakes made for the crowd at Shirley Couchene's birthday party at the USW hall in Escanaba. Here, the birthday girl looks at the nearest one, which reads, "Happy birthday, Mom." (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)
Old photos of Shirley Couchene.
Guessing games, puzzles and other gammes
"Can I take a picture of just you, sitting and smiling?" the Daily Press photographer asked Shirley Couchene on her 100th birthday. "You'll have to tell me something funny, then," the centenarian replied. "Okay — what do you call a fish with no eyes? (pause) FSH." Here Couchene is repeating the punchline -- "fish" with no "i"s. "Fssshhhh."
A daughter-in-law named Kathy reportedly worked on the multiple tri-fold presentation boards displaying details about Shirley Couchene's life and the 100 years throughout.
Making an announcement that her mother's 100th birthday cake and ice cream will soon be served.
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ESCANABA -- The USW union hall on Sheridan Road was packed on Saturday for the 100th birthday party of Shirley Couchene, a bridge-playing mother of six and former swimmer.
The festivity was held on her birthday itself — 100 years to the day since Shirley Brazeau was born at home in Escanaba to parents Caroline and Paul on Oct. 17, 1926.
She grew up with five brothers: Donald, Paul Jr., William, Lloyd and Lowell. The youngest sibling traveled all the way in from California to celebrate his sister’s 100th.
In childhood, Shirley attended kindergarten at Webster, first grade at Jefferson school, second through eighth at St. Anne’s, then Escanaba Junior and Senior High School. She graduated in 1944.
As a young adult, she worked at the Leader Store in Escanaba, for a year at the junior high —
“But the war was on, and if you went to Milwaukee or those places, you could get a job where you’d get a lot more money, so I did,” Shirley said. “I went to Milwaukee, but then the war quit, so the company employing me closed. So I didn’t stay in Milwaukee very long.”
In the spring of 1949, Shirley married Kenneth J. Couchene. The pair had six children: David, Paula, Connie, Thomas, Patrick and Amy.
“They’re all here with their spouses and their kids and their grandkids,” Shirley noted on Saturday.
Over her lifetime, she has lived in several homes, all in Escanaba -- including on Danforth Road and South 19th Street.
“I was born in Escanaba, and I’ll die in Escanaba,” Shirley remarked.
The house in which she currently resides was built by her husband, Kenneth, who died in 1990.
When asked what sort of things she’d enjoyed doing over the last century:
“I used to go to ceramics. That was a kind of a fun thing,” Shirley said.
She also quite liked line dancing, which she did at the Escanaba Senior Center.
Shirley was such a big swimmer at the YMCA that the organization recognized when she hit 899 miles.
“But it wasn’t because I was fast. It was just that I did it a lot,” the centenarian said.
One activity she continues to participate in is playing bridge with friends at the Family Inn every Wednesday.
“And they (the Family Inn) let us do that,” Shirley said appreciatively, “even if we make a lot of noise.”
For the birthday party, her family had decorated the union hall and organized several activities. A series of tri-fold posterboards presented facts about what sort of things were popular when Shirley was born and inventions that came out during her life.
Among the attendees were relatives from California and Minnesota.