April 15, 2025
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The golden years in the Gem of the Valley

By Katlyn Sanden
Genevieve Cummins, 100 years old, reminisces about the days when her entire yard was a garden. She also took a lot of pride in these one-of-a-kind rugs she has displayed throughout her home. She remembers making them by hand with her mother when she was a young girl. They’re made out of corduroy and wool materials.

Genevieve Cummins, 100 years old, reminisces about the days when her entire yard was a garden. She also took a lot of pride in these one-of-a-kind rugs she has displayed throughout her home. She remembers making them by hand with her mother when she was a young girl. They’re made out of corduroy and wool materials. (Submitted)

The Gem of the Valley, also known as Tiskilwa, has been home to 17 centenarians, which is a lot for a town with only a population of 750. In addition to the official 17 centenarians, 41 others came close to the title. But what is it about the Gem that is leading people to long lives? Is it truly the environment, or is it something deeper?

For Genevieve Cummins, a 100-year-old Tiskilwa resident, it’s a little bit of both. Although she laughs when she says the real key to a long life is in your genes.

“My aunt lived to be 101, and I had a cousin who lived to 103,” Cummins said.

She was born in a farmhouse on November 24, 1924, and laughs when she recalls her twin sister coming right behind her.

“We were a surprise,” Cummins said. “(Neither) the doctor nor my mom knew we were twins.”

Cummins said she’s led a good life, growing up with her twin sister on the farm. They attended a one-room schoolhouse, and looking back, she can’t believe her teacher would be teaching over 20 children of all different ages at once.

“There’d never been twins in school,” Cummins said. “They were fascinated by us.”

She remembers her high school graduation party at Starved Rock and how that seemed to be the place to go to celebrate big milestones back then. After graduation, she began training to get her cosmetology license and eventually opened her own shop, but when she married Lester Cummins in 1958, she set aside cosmetology to create a family. She remembers discovering her green thumb that first spring she was married.

“I can’t tell you how big it (her garden) was,” Cummins said. “I had 100 tomato plants. I had four rows of potatoes and sweet corn. You name it, I had it in the garden. I did a lot of canning and made my own baby food. My son, Curtis, was born with hydrocephalus.”

Hydrocephalus is a condition where there is an excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain’s fluid-filled spaces. This buildup of fluid causes pressure on the brain.

Cummins remembers hearing the doctors deliver the devastating news that her only son would likely have 3 years at the most. Cummins said there weren’t as many options to help back then as there are today.

“He lived much longer than they (the doctors) ever imagined,” said Cummins. “He lived to be 16. He never talked, but he understood what you’d tell him. He loved songs.”

Cummins believes the fresh garden produce she used for cooking everyday meals helped her son defeat the odds and live much longer than anyone thought possible. She also believes tending a garden for over half her life has kept her in shape and healthy, even at the age of 100.

Cecille Gerber, who ran the Tiskilwa Historical Society for several years, is in awe of Cummins’ ambition to garden, live independently in her own house, cook her own meals, and do her own house cleaning.

“Just because you work hard doesn’t make you live long, but these people worked into their 90’s,” Gerber said of Cummins and the rest of the Tiskilwa centenarians. “I do think there is a certain amount of people looking out for one another in a small town. History is yesterday, but it’s also 100 years ago. We try to take some inspiration from these people.”

Gerber said she was especially inspired by Cummins’ real-life account of Pearl Harbor. Cummins said the biggest change, in her opinion, over the last 100 years has definitely been in education.

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