At 100 years old, Doris Agnes Hill Jelinek remembers a lot. She remembers when the streets of Sultan were made of dirt, she remembers when fires were fought using horse-drawn water-carts, and she remembers when the Sultan business community included a blacksmith, dance hall, foundry and a soda fountain.
She remembers trudging down Old Owen Road from Sultan to Monroe to visit Louis Jelinek, the man who would eventually become her husband. She remembers being completely smitten when she first met him in 1930, at the impressionable age of 15.
Things have changed since then. Sultan's roads are paved, the community has grown and the homes have running water. Her husband is gone; Louis passed away in 1992 just before their 60th wedding anniversary. But despite all the changes, a few things have remained the same. Doris still lives in Sultan, she's remained a pillar of the community, she still works in her garden and she still socializes with her friends.
And at 100 years old, she is still smitten with her husband Louis.
"He was wonderful,GÇ¥ Doris said. "He was the most wonderful guy in the world. I've never found anyone that's even come close to him. He really could have been a president.GÇ¥
Over the years, Louis worked as the Sultan Utilities Superintendent, the Sultan Police Chief and the Sultan Fire Chief. Doris and Louis raised three sons together and stayed active in the community. Doris volunteered with the Volunteers of America for over 50 years, was the president of the Mount Index Valley General Hospital Guild and remains a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
During the 1970s, the couple donated 15 acres of property to the city of Sultan for what is currently known as Reese Park. In later years, they donated numerous artifacts and historical treasures that are on display in the Sultan Museum, including the large bell that sits on the walkway out front.
They are both included in the mural painted on the side of the post office, which was formerly Sultan's Fire Department.
The Jelinek name has long been associated with the city of Sultan, and on Thursday, June 25, the city of Sultan paid homage
to Doris in recognition of her 100th birthday. Visiting from all over the United States, the Jelinek family packed council chambers to hear Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick proclaim Friday, June 26, 2015 as Doris Jelinek Day, and present her with a key to the city.
"We don't give out many keys to the city, but I believe this is an apropos time to do that,GÇ¥ Eslick said.
Eslick presented the key to Doris' sons Louis Jr., 82, Clyde, 78, and Richard, 80, who accepted the symbolic gesture on her behalf. Doris was at home, catching up on her rest.
Because when you're 100 years old, you're allowed to take naps whenever you please.
90 years in Sultan
One of 12 children, Doris was born in Ava, Mo. on June 26, 1915. Her father moved the family to Oklahoma when she was a year old, and some of her earliest memories are of the hot, dusty Oklahoma summers. Their home didn't have running water, and their days were spent picking cotton. Temperatures were sizzling, and Doris remembers her feet burning on the ground as she and her siblings hauled water to their mom in buckets.
"It was so hot with our bare feet, we'd pour the water and step in it,GÇ¥ Doris said. "By the time we got to her, we had to go back and get more water.GÇ¥
Doris' father Wilson eventually got a job at the Wallace Falls Timber Company in Gold Bar, and the family made the 2,015-mile trek to Washington in late 1924. They stayed in Startup briefly and lived in Gold Bar for about a year before settling in Sultan in 1927. They moved into a house on Alder, and Doris started attending school in Sultan.
It was through one of her school-friends that she first met 17-year-old Louis Jelinek. The two were introduced at a dance in Monroe, and Doris was taken with him immediately. Louis offered to give her a ride home that night, and after a small amount of haggling, she decided to relent.
"And that was the beginning of our romance,GÇ¥ Doris said.
Both deciding to forgo their education to start a family, the two were married on April 7, 1932.
"My older sister was going with Mike Miller at the time, and they decided that they'd get married at the same time,GÇ¥ Doris said. "So we had a double wedding at my mother's home, in the front room.GÇ¥
Wanting a place to call their own, the two moved into a tiny refurbished chicken coop on the Hill's property about a year or two later. When their first son, Louis Jr. was born in 1933, Doris and Louis swaddled the tiny tot in a dresser drawer, because space was limited and cribs were expensive.
Their family grew as the city of Sultan grew around them; their son Richard was born in 1935 and Clyde came along in 1937.
Louis wore numerous hats during his time with the city. He helped improve Sultan's system of roadways, established the city's garbage collection service, cared for the local cemetery and helped implement a city-wide sewer system. He took care of city business with diligence, Doris recalled, but also took care of people GÇô all people. She remembered the time he brought the fire truck out to the Ben Howard road, to bring water to the "hippiesGÇ¥ that were camping out there.
"He was a very kind man. He was lots more intelligent than I was. I clung to him like a leaf to a tree,GÇ¥ Doris said. "He had compassion for many people.GÇ¥
As police chief or Sultan Town Marshal, Louis went out of his way to protect the citizens.
"A lot of times the merchants didn't lock their doors because we didn't expect any kind of tom-foolery, you know,GÇ¥ Doris said. "He would make sure that he would lock them up for them.
As fire chief, Louis was the voice of the district. He gave statements to the newspaper when fire struck, or when the river claimed a new victim. He met with legislators, fighting for things like pension for volunteer firefighters.
Louis wasn't the only industrious member of the Jelinek family. In addition to her job as a mom to three boys, over the years Doris held many other jobs as well. She worked at Boeing as a "Rosie the Riveter,GÇ¥ and at Smith's Bakery which was located on Main Street in Sultan.
During the 1930s she worked at the Frye Lettuce Farm in Monroe, making 10 cents an hour, working 10 hour days. Located in what is currently known as the Fryelands, the roughly 1,200 acre lettuce farm employed numerous workers from around the Sky Valley area. According to the Monroe Historical Society, many women and high school students worked in the lettuce fields.
"I can tell you, that was the hardest work,GÇ¥ Doris said. "You're on your hands and knees.GÇ¥
Doris even freelanced for the local valley newspaper, penning a lighthearted gossip column that documented who was doing what in the Sky Valley area.
Throughout the years, the couple always made time for fun.
"We used to have big dances up here. We had a big hall and they had weekend dances here, and people would come from all over to dance,GÇ¥ Doris said. "Of course the guys outside had a little beer or a little something, but women didn't do that.GÇ¥
Doris and Louis liked to garden. They would grow their own fruits and vegetables, and would spend afternoons in the kitchen canning. Doris won first place at the Evergreen State Fair in 1964 for her canned peaches. She still enjoys getting outside and tending to her garden.
During the 1960s, she began caring for Marie and Rudolph Reese, who lived in a house on U.S. 2. Rudolph and Mary, brother and sister, eventually decided that they wanted Doris and Louis to have their home. According to a lawyer at the time, in order to gift the property to Doris, they had to legally adopt her. Doris wasn't quite sure what to expect, but as it turned out, being adopted wasn't all that exciting.
"There was nothing to it,GÇ¥ Doris recalled. "I thought that would be quite a ceremony. I was quite, in a way, let down.GÇ¥
Doris and Louis moved into the home in 1970, donating what is currently known as Reese Park to the city of Sultan. It remains her home today.
Louis died on Feb. 22, 1992, just before their 60th wedding anniversary.
"It was bad. I don't really remember too much about it,Gǥ Doris said. "It was justGǪ You go through something like that and it's indistinct to you in a way.Gǥ
Doris looks much younger than her 100 years and has a youthful demeanor. There is no mysterious secret to long life, said the spry centenarian. It's all about staying active, getting out of bed every day, eating healthy and being a good person.
"I think being kind to people and helping people,GÇ¥ Doris said.
As far as regrets, she has few. Louis Jelinek was the one true love of her life and although she doesn't regret marrying him for an instant, a part of her rather wishes that she'd have gone farther in school. And when the Sultan School District caught wind of this, they decided to honor her with her 1935 high school diploma.
So now, 80 years later, she can finally call herself a high school graduate.
"I got married instead because love gets in the way and you've got to do it,GÇ¥ Doris said. "And I don't regret it, really.GÇ¥
Doris Jelinek courtesy of Doris Blanton
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