Orem resident turns 105, has some advice for young people

OREM, Utah — Georgia Burt Presnell took to the dance floor on Friday, wearing a bedazzled pink dress, nylons and blue eyeshadow. Senior living facility staff say she dresses to the nines every day. But this day was different — it was her 105th birthday.

“I don’t feel 105, but I look it,” she joked, addressing a crowd of family and friends who were there to celebrate her at Treeo senior living facility in Orem.

Presnell was born June 7, 1919. She’s lived through the Great Depression, four wars, 19 presidents and one pandemic. She’s older than Mickey Mouse, the internet and the ballpoint pen.

And turns out, she’s the same age as the city of Orem, Mayor David Young said. She’ll be honored in the Orem city parade on Saturday.

“As a little kid, I never dreamed I’d be here at 105,” she said.

Related: Not even a global pandemic could stop this 102-year-old from voting in this election

Presnell spent her younger years in the Salt Lake City and Ogden areas. She met her husband, Francis “Frank” Foster Presnell, in high school. When he walked into the library one day, she told herself, “He’s mine!”

Frank Presnell got a job in Portland, Oregon, after high school graduation. A few months later, Presnell asked her parents to drive her to Oregon so she and Frank Presnell could get married on November 14, 1939. They were married for 61 years.

Presnell has missed him in the 24 years he’s been gone but says their two sons, Burt and Greg, are “just like him.”

Things weren’t always easy for the Presnells — their first son Burt was born on December 4, 1944, which was the same day Frank Presnell was shipped out of New York City to fight in World War II’s European Theater.

But overall, Presnell says she’s had “a beautiful life.” She’s managed to stay busy for an entire century.

Read more at ksl.com

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