‘Never thought I’d live this long’: Johnsburg woman celebrates 100th birthday

Joyce Mohr celebrated her 100th birthday Tuesday with family and friends at Brunch Cafe in McHenry.

Mohr, who lives in Johnsburg, grew up in Chicago, near the Roscoe Village neighborhood, and recalls being able to walk to Riverview Park.

Mohr’s daughter, Judy Jonas, also grew up near Roscoe Village, and said her mother moved out to McHenry County in the 1970s.

Mohr said among the changes she’s seen over the years include the transition from iceboxes to refrigerators. Mohr said she had a coal furnace growing up. She recalled when she was younger having a phone in the house that required inserting a nickel to make a phone call. The phone company would send someone out at the end of the month to collect the nickels.

She also recalled that, “When we were children, we could go outside and play all the time,” adding today’s kids don’t do that.

That sense of independence carries over into today, where she’s been taking the senior bus to Little Chef in McHenry every Wednesday to grab lunch and play cards.

“It’s an independence thing,” Jonas said.

Mohr also saw events like the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1934, during the Great Depression.

Mohr has four children, six grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and eight great-great grandchildren.

She received over 100 cards for her birthday this year, with Jonas noting 50 more cards came Tuesday. Many of them were collected at the McHenry Township Senior Center.

“I never thought I’d live this long, but here I am,” Mohr said.