About 65 years ago, Betty Bauer and her husband, Bob, decided they wanted to move to the western suburbs from Chicago’s South Side Hegewisch neighborhood.
They came to a Hinsdale that looked very different than it does today.
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“We found an empty lot in Hinsdale, just a block away from St. Isaac Jogues,” Betty Bauer said. “The whole block was practically empty. We bought the lot, hired a builder and built our home.”
Bauer still lives in that same home. And Thursday, she will celebrate her 100th birthday there.
Bauer’s granddaughter, Amelia Bauer, 33, said birthday plans for her grandma include spending the afternoon outside with neighbors and friends. The celebration will continue Friday with a more intimate family dinner.
“That’s where we will celebrate her big milestone,” Amelia said. “I feel so lucky that I have had my grandma this long. She inspired my sister and I to join her as members of the Daughters of the American Revolution last year, and we’ve enjoyed researching our family ancestry together.
She truly has so many amazing stories about her own life, so I have started trying to document those as well. I love learning about her life.”
Betty Bauer said Hinsdale turned out to be a very good choice for her and her family, although there was no way to know early on that she’d still be living in the village and in the same house where they raised six children.
“We certainly intended to stay for a long time,” she said “Once we built the house, this was home. For us, so much of life revolved around St. Isaac Jogues Church and School. We wanted a big family, and Hinsdale was a wonderful place to raise one. We had the church, the school, a great neighborhood full of families, and Bob could easily commute downtown for work because we were close to the train.”
Bauer said she and her family also appreciated things like taking the family for Sunday picnics at Katherine Legge Park.
“It was just a very nice community in which to build a life,” she said. “Our children and grandchildren have stayed very close, many of them in Hinsdale still and the surrounding western suburbs, so I have been lucky enough to see the generations grow up around me.”
Bauer said St. Isaac Jogues was a particularly important part of her family’s life, and she volunteered as “class grandparent” at the school when her grandchildren were students there.
“I think we always felt that if you were part of a community, you should give something back to it, too,” she said.
Raising six children and being active at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Parish — both the church and the school, kept Bauer pretty busy over the years. She also participated in a women’s bowling league and played bridge with friends.
“I helped the village of Hinsdale too,” she said. “Whenever they had a large mailing to send out, they would call me. I would gather a few girlfriends, and we would label everything and get it ready to go out.
“As I got older, I learned how to use a computer and became an avid computer person. I emailed family and friends and tried to keep up with the times. I still like brain games, word searches and keeping up with the news. I go through so many word-search books that I constantly need new ones.”
While much has changed over the years during which Bauer has lived in Hinsdale, she doesn’t believe the village has changed as much as many would expect.
“The town has grown, but it has managed to keep its charm and its family-oriented feeling,” she said. “Downtown still feels familiar, even though many of the stores have changed.”
One thing that hasn’t changed at all is Bauer being glad she moved to Hinsdale all those years ago.
“It has been a wonderful community,” she said. “Once we built our home, we never really thought about leaving, and I never wanted to downsize.
“One thing that meant a great deal to me was how people looked out for me during COVID. Neighbors and people in the community checked in and made sure I was all right. That says a lot about the kind of place Hinsdale still is.”
As she gets ready to turn 100, Bauer has a very positive attitude about it.
“Well, you know, I think it’s wonderful to be 100,” she said. “I’ve still got my marbles … well, sort of. Aging isn’t for the faint of heart, but the best part of reaching 100 is that I have been able to see my children, my grandchildren and now my great-grandchildren grow up. And because so many of them are still close by, I get to be part of their lives. That is really the greatest gift.”
One more recent frustration for Bauer is that she isn’t able to get around the way she did until not long ago.
“I was still very mobile until I was about 98,” she said. “One of the things I always loved about Hinsdale was that I could walk to church or walk to the store.”
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As for reaching the milestone of a 100th birthday, Bauer doesn’t have any secrets for it.
“Well, I must be tough if I’ve lived this long,” she said with a laugh. “I lived a good life, tried to stay positive and was fortunate to be very healthy for most of it. Maybe I would say going to church every day. I would walk there in the summer or the winter.
“I think it helps to keep your mind active. I learned to use a computer, kept in-touch with family and friends over email, followed the news, and still do my brain games and word searches. I even FaceTime these days.”
While Bauer has many fond memories of living in Hinsdale for so long, her granddaughter, Amelia, offered her own of her grandmother.
“Some of my fondest memories of my grandma are from growing up just about a mile away from her,” she said. “Often, my siblings and I would ride our bikes over to the Hinsdale pool, which is about a block from Grandma’s. After a fun afternoon of swimming, we would stop by her house on the way home for an ice cream cone. She always had vanilla ice cream and sugar cones. Often, we would stick around and play the card game war.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.