Ada Crow and Adelaide Cochran, both Oxford, are celebrating milestone birthdays as Oxford prepares to celebrate its 150th year.
The women share farm backgrounds, and appreciation for living in Oxford and an appreciation for each new day. Both are regulars at the community’s weekly Super Sixties congregate meals. They never miss the Wednesday gathering, where neighbors of Oxford share a meal and visiting. Super Sixties honored their birthdays with ice cream and kolaches at a recent gathering.
Ada Crow celebrated her 99th birthday as the old year drew to a close. She was born Nov. 26, 1918, in her parent’s farmhouse in Union Township, Johnson County. Raised with one brother and sister, she attended country school, Iowa City schools and teacher’s college.
“l felt lucky to spend eight years teaching in country school,” Ada explained, as it was one of the few good jobs women could find in the time of the Depression. “Women didn’t have the opportunities for work like today.”
She married Leslie Crow in 1945 and together they farmed in Hardin Township near Oxford. Ada recalls when she was young, the farm families all came into Oxford for supplies on Wednesday and Saturday nights. She remembers two grocery stores, a hardware, blacksmith, shoe store, restaurants, taverns and more.
“You could always depend on some kind of fist fight on Saturday night,” she adds.
Ada says her family came into town from the farm the day in 1948 when Harry Truman stopped his campaign train in Oxford.
“Seeing the President was pretty exciting for everyone, it drew people from all around,” she remembered.
Adelaide Cochran, whose birthday was Jan. 3, was born in her parent’s farmhouse located near Amana. She was raised with two brothers and a sister. She came to the Oxford area around 1934 when she got a job “working out” in a local farm home. Working out, as it was called, was one of the few ways a young woman could make an income. Adelaide remembers getting $2 or $3 a week for this kind of work. She also remembers Oxford as busy town when she was younger, noting, “the town has changed a lot.”
She said there was a movie house, six taverns, four restaurants, and among other things, a hotel called the Westwicks, located where the city hall is now found. Adelaide says everyone visited, shopped and listened to music. Bands would play on the streets, and farm families came to Oxford to shop, they didn’t go as far as Iowa City as they do today.
Adelaide cooked for 21 years at the Iowa City Sale Barn, and then again at the Oxford Sale Barn, which was opened by her and her husband, Murrel, in 1969 and remains family-run yet today. Adelaide helped in the sale barn kitchen until she was in her 90’s. There isn’t many a face she doesn’t know.
Both women agreed that Oxford is a pleasant town in which to live. Ada called Oxford a nice place, where “the people are friendly.” Adelaide said, “I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”
When asked for advice on reaching age 99, both women said the same thing. Ada says, “Keep busy. And probably moderation in all things: don’t over eat, don’t overdrink.” She enjoys taking part of a local quilting gathering.
Adelaide says, “Keep working. Don’t sit down. Keep doing things.” She enjoys participating in a local card party gathering.