Square meals & square dancing: Ralph Walker of Winona celebrates 100th birthday

Betty Jordan gives a special birthday greeting to her uncle, Ralph Walker, at his 100th birthday party in Community Pride Senior Living at St. John Sunday. Mr. Walker turns the century mark this Saturday.

A well-rounded life depends on two things, according to Ralph Walker: square meals and square dancing.

Mr. Walker will turn 100 years old Saturday, and he attributes his longevity to eating right and tapping his toes.

“Any time you’re in a crowd and you hear music, get up and dance,” he told the Gazette at a birthday celebration last Sunday.

“Even still I can’t stop myself from dancing,” he said as his toe taps impulsively.

About three dozen of Ralph’s closest friends and family gathered for the 100th birthday party in St. John’s Community Pride Senior Living.

And while there was little dancing, there were plenty of smiles, hugs and birthday cake.

“It’s really great to see all these people come out and help him celebrate,” said Jerry Walker, Ralph’s son.

In addition to the two scrumptious cakes laid on the table before Ralph were pictures of him and his late wife, Eileen, and of an old-time horse-drawn harvest operation.

Ralph Walker’s family surrounds him for this photo after his 100th birthday party.

Ralph and Eileen farmed for years in the Winona district near Texas Lake. Looking at the photo of a team of horses pulling a combine and harvest crew made him think back over the tremendous technological advances that swept agriculture.

“It was harder using horses,” he said. “But it wasn’t too bad if you could make the front drive horses to do what you want. It was all just a matter of keeping the rear horses in line.”

From horses to tractors to self-contained combines, the annual job of cutting a crop got easier as the years went on, he said.

“Now it’s got to the point where a guy can just about do it all by himself,” he said.

Ralph was born in Colorado and moved to the northwest with his family. They settled in the Spokane Valley, where they ran a small dairy farm.

In the early-1930s, he came down to the Palouse and began working as a farmhand.

He met Eileen Brown one night and was immediately struck.

“She was a wonderful woman,” he said.

They were married Dec. 3, 1933, and danced together as members of the Pullman Frolickers square dance group for decades. Their marriage lasted 70 years, until Eileen passed away at the age of 85 in 2004.

The family includes son, Jerry and his wife Molly, eight grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren.