She's 105 and has survived two pandemics...

Donna Lee Pera Burr with her mother, Allene Winkfield Pera, and her brother Jack Pera
at Lone Tree Cemetery in Telluride, Colorado, in 2016

Good news: Allene Winkfield Pera turns 105 on Friday, July 17.  I'm celebrating her long life and good health.  Born in 1915, she has lived through two pandemics.  

The first pandemic began when she was a three-year-old child in a mining town in Colorado.  The year was 1918.

She grew up in Rico, CO, and married Walter Pera, the first cousin of my mother, Evelyn Gustafson Eggebroten.  Walter Pera was the son of Mary Gustafson and Jacob Pera.  Mary Gustafson, born in Finland, was the sister of August Gustafson, my grandfather.

Allene and Walter lived in Telluride most of their lives: in later years they moved to Durango.  She made beautiful quilts and raised five kids: Jack Pera, Donna Pera Burr, Patricia, Eddie, and Walter.

She has many great stories--for example, she and Walter were living at the Tomboy Mine, altitude 12,000 ft., when Jack was a one-year-old.  She had to go down to Telluride via sled and mine shafts for the birth of Donna (who now lives in Durango).  Walter's uncle August Gustafson got him the job as caretaker for the electric power line at Tomboy in about 1940.  At that time it was already a ghost town because mines had shut down.

Both Allene and Walter Pera tell their stories in Conversations at 9,000 Feet: A Collection of Oral Histories from Telluride, Colorado (Ouray: Western Reflections, 2000).  Davine Pera, wife of Jack Pera, worked with the recorded stories and compiled them into the book. 

Davine's family owns a ranch on Wilson Mesa near Telluride; she grew up in Ridgway CO and married Jack Pera.  Davine and Jack still live in Telluride at age 81.  They have a cabin at Trout Lake, where their daughter lives.

Allene now lives at an assisted living facility in Durango.  She uses a walker and is nearly deaf but doesn't have dementia.  (Well, she does have a teeny bit of memory loss.) 

At her 100th birthday party she was walking around without a walker and gave a charming speech including a few memorable stories.

Everyone in Allene's residence is restricted from contact with visitors because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  When Donna visits her mother, they have to sit outside under an awning at a picnic table, six feet apart from each other.  It's hard for Allene to understand these rules.

Here's a photo of two quilts Allene made.  These are just the plainest ones--the more elegant ones have been given to family members.

Happy Birthday to my oldest and most amazing family member!