Is there a secret to living a long life? To celebrating 100 birthdays? 
Neither Roman Zangel nor Hilda Fritsche believe so. And, really, they should know. Within a week’s span, each will have celebrated their 100th birthdays at the Sleepy Eye Care Center.

Roman has some difficulty hearing so, on Monday, Roman’s wife of 69 years, Sylvia, answered questions about his long life.
Roman Zangel was born on Dec. 2, 1909, in New Ulm at his parents’ home on South Front Street. He was one of 18 Zangel children, three of whom are still living. “There were some that died as babies, you know,” Sylvia said. “That happened."

“I was my mother’s pet,” Roman said. Sylvia explained that since Roman could drive, he would take his mother shopping a lot.
“Roman talked a lot about working for Joe Green on a farm by St. George, when he was young, in the summers,” Sylvia recalled. “Farming was not like it is now, there weren’t the modern conveniences. It was hard work.”

Like his father, Roman worked at Eagle Roller Mills in New Ulm. He retired in 1971 after 46 years of maintenance work. “The mill employed a lot of people back then, in their heyday over 1,000 people,” Sylvia said. “My dad worked there too.

“Roman grew up playing ball with the Fritsches. Fezz Fritsche, if you know him. He had an orchestra in New Ulm.”

Playing ball was fine, but Roman’s favorite hobby, it seems, was woodworking. More specifically, Roman crafted spinning wheels. “I made over 200 in my life,” Roman said proudly.

“He did all kinds of wood working,” Sylva said. “He made things like end tables, things like that.”

The Zangels grew up in the same area in New Ulm. “I was born at 624 South Front and he lived at 404 South Front,” Sylvia explained. “We knew each other as kids; we grew up together.

Hilda Fritsche has many memories of the past 100 years. “Hundreds of memories,” she said. “I could sit all day and think of them,” she said.

Hilda (Radloff) Fritsche was born on Dec. 8, 1909, on the family farm near Essig. “There was no hospital then,” Hilda said. “Women had their babies at home.

“My grandpa and grandma owned land there by Essig. There were two little churches. The minister would come by train, give his sermon and go back on the next train.”

Hilda describes herself as being something of a tomboy, always enjoying work on the Radloff family farm. “I did a lot of things, as much as I could. I liked the outside work. I could do it.

“We didn’t have refrigerators. We had a well. That’s where they hung the butter or whatever needed cooling.”

Hilda was one of five Radloff children. “I went to District 21 school,” Hilda said. “We had to walk two and a half miles through our woods and over a road up to the schoolhouse. And then we walked back home.”

Hilda attended school to eighth grade and a year beyond. “I went an extra year because I liked school,” she explained.

Some of the best memories Hilda has are those associated with her time as a Milford 4-H Club member. “In those days we had as many as 70 members in our club,” she said. “We met in some buildings in New Ulm. They’re not there anymore. If we met at someone’s home, we had to take a dozen chairs along, Nobody had enough chairs for everybody!”

Hilda recalled the girls had their knitting, cooking canning and, yes, even livestock projects for the fair. The Brown County Fair was a very big deal for 4-Hers. Once, members of the Milford Club, advanced to the state fair to present a play. “That was a great day,” she said.

After school, Hilda took house jobs, cooking and cleaning for other families. “You went for a couple days to help a mother who just had a baby or a mother who had been hospitalized or who couldn’t help herself at home,” Hilda said.

“I stayed quite awhile with a cousin of my dad’s, cooking and housecleaning. (As for pay) money wasn’t the big thing. It was what you could do for somebody else.”