Helen Mattson celebrated her 101st birthday on Dec. 4 at the Bee Hive Homes in Bosque Farms.
Helen Mattson marks living more than a
century
Submitted photo
She was born on Dec. 4, 1919, in Anoka, Minn. She had a hole in her neck when she was 9 months old. The doctor said there was nothing they could do, but Helen’s brother, Grant, found a college student who knew something about radiation and they were able to close the wound. You can still see the wound on her neck.
Helen attended Tuttle Elementary School. She attended Marshall High School in Minneapolis. She would wear high heels to school as a teenager.
When she graduated high school, Helen clerked at a Hoves grocery store in Minneapolis.
Helen and her husband, Gil, met on a blind date. They were married in 1940. Dianne, their only child, was born in July 1942.
They put in a basement in a plot of land in Brooklyn Park, Minn. They later completed the first floor of the home. Many family gatherings happened at the Mattson’s house.
Helen and Gil enjoyed a trip to Hawaii when Gil retired.
The Mattson’s moved to Belen in 2000 to be near Dianne, who taught school in New Mexico. They built a house next to Dianne. Gil passed away in Belen in 2005.
The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.
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April 18, 2024
