Rossville man to be 100
By Jennifer Archibald

Mohler

"The Lord's been good to me," said Harry Mohler of Rossville, who will turn 100 on Nov. 10.

He enjoys good health, still lives

in his own home, mows his own lawn, and does his own laundry.

He cooks for himself, too, but he says he has three good daughtersin law who supplement his meals.

"I make peach cobbler and blackberry cobbler," he said. "I haven't made any pie, and probably won't."

He says he gets out almost every day. He visits at the nursing home in Rossville, and he drives to Lafayette a couple times a week.

"I go shopping there, get some walking in, and then get something to eat," he said.

His family has already had a birthday celebration for him. About 80 family members attended.

Mohler has three sons, Harold, Marvin, and Melvin, all of Rossville; 10 grandchildren, 55 great-grandchildren, and one greatgreat grandchild.

He was born in Carroll County in 1906 and had two brothers and a sister. His sister, Catherine Flora, is still living, and is 94.

Mohler's wife, Dora, passed away in 2001. They were married 72 years. They farmed in Carroll and Clinton counties and lived in Carroll County for 30 years. In 1961, they bought a farm and moved to Rossville.

Standing tall Harry Mohler of 59 Orchard Dr., Rossville, will be 100 years old on Nov. 10. He is standing on ground that will be the site of the Old German Baptist Brethren annual conference next May. Mohler is looking forward to attending. Photo provided

After he left farming, Mohler painted for a living.

"I painted into my 80s," he said.

He and his wife wintered in Florida for 25 years. He also painted in Florida, but just as much as he wanted to.

Another sideline has been woodworking. He said he wanted a set of wooden dominoes awhile back, and couldn't find any, so he made them. Since then, he has made 100 sets.

"I wanted a table beside my chair, but my wife said their wasn't room, so I made one that fit," Mohler said. It had a place underneath to hold magazines. Others saw his table, and he ended up making 20 of them.

He doesn't do much woodworking anymore, but earlier this year he made a step stool as a wedding gift for one of his great-granddaughters.

Mohler said he can remember back to when he was about four or five. His family lived in Pendleton then. They went to church in a horse and buggy, and the church was 14 miles away.

"My first car was a Model T Ford," Mohler said. I was 17 I expect. I bought it used."

"In the late '20s or early '30s, you could get seven gallons of gasoline for a dollar."

Mohler and his wife experienced the Depression in their early married life.

"Those were hard times," Mohler said, "but I don't think it hurt us any."

He said some of the biggest changes he has seen have been in farming. He started out farming with horses and shucking corn by hand.

When he ran a farm for someone else, he remembers being paid $30 a month. He also recalls the prices he got when he owned his own farm.

"The cheapest I sold hogs for was $2.75 (per 100 lbs.), and corn was 10 cents a bushel," he said.

He had 400-500 feeder pigs and farmed 250 acres.

"I either had to quit or get bigger," he said. That's when he chose to take up painting.

He's still interested in farming though. Just this fall he rode on the combine with son Marvin.

Mohler said now that he's slowed down, he notices that everybody else is in a hurry.

Mohler attends the Middlefork Old German Baptist Brethren Church.

"There are 300 to 400 at services, and I'm always the oldest person there," he said.

Mohler has fond memories of he and his wife going to their church's annual conference.

"We went every year, no matter where it was, when we could afford it and could get away," he said.

The conference is coming to this area in May of 2007. It will be held west of Rossville.

"I'm hoping to be able to see that," he said.