Mason Health Care Resident Marks His 100th Birthday
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Mason Health Care Resident Henry Wallen marked his 100th birthday Nov. 9. His family and friends gathered and had a potluck to celebrate his birthday. “I lived a long life and enjoyed working in the coal mines with my dad,” Wallen said. His relatives got him a hat that says “Officially 100” and a sweatshirt that says “It Took Me 100 Years To Look This Good.” On the back of the hat and sweatshirt it reads “Made in 1913.” Wallen’s daughter, Frances, 64, said she was glad to see her father turn 100. “It is a milestone. His father lived to be 96 and his mother lived to be 98 so longevity runs in the blood line,” Frances said. She said she is blessed to still have both parents living: “They have been wonderful Christian role models.” Wallen was born in 1913 in Water Gap, Ky., to William and Nebraska Sizemore Wallen. He went to school until the third grade and worked in the coal mines with his dad until he was 14. He signed up to serve in World War II, but he had a fractured skull from whooping cough when he was a baby and did not qualify to serve. He was a coal miner until the mines shut down in Kentucky, and he moved to Indiana to work. He retired from Gatke Corp. at age 65. Wallen is an elder of the Union Baptist Church, Silver Lake. He married Bessie Hall Wallen and they marked their 73rd anniversary in July. Bessie also is a resident at Masons. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. He has been a resident at Masons for the past three years. He has black lung, a lung disease from his days as a coal miner, and also congestive heart failure and diabetes. He has trouble seeing and hearing. Wallen said he loves to watch Dallas Cowboys football, loves to eat fried chicken, and to sing and play the harmonica.
