Clara Luce-Reynolds turns 100

Tracy Gibbar said her grandmother, Clara Luce-Reynolds, has never had a large circle of friends, but instead enjoyed a "huge circle of family."

"For her, it's always been about family," Gibbar said.

That family consists of four daughters - Monta, Vivian (Viv), Dixie and Sharon - along with 12 grandchildren, of which Tracy is the youngest, 33 great-grandchildren and 21 great-great grandchildren. Many of those, and a small group of close family friends will be on hand this Saturday at Medical Lake's City Hall to wish Luce-Reynolds a happy 100th birthday.

Luce-Reynolds was born Sept. 19, 1916 near Power, Mont., which is located 25 miles northwest of Great Falls just off what is now Interstate 15. Her father was Van Buckles Luce and her mother was Edith Hope Fulton.

Gibbar said her grandmother was the youngest of six children, the next youngest of which, Paul, was sent to Power to get the doctor to help with Clara's delivery. He and the doctor didn't make it, leaving Van to conduct the delivery.

"He cut the umbilical cord with a pocket knife that he always used to carry," Gibbar said, adding that her grandmother was then wrapped up in blankets and placed in an open dresser drawer until the doctor arrived.

In the early 1930s the family moved first to Albion, Wash., northwest of Pullman, while their cabin was being built on Flanagan Creek near Viola, Idaho. Luce-Reynolds spent the first couple of years of high school at Albion before finishing in Viola after they moved into their cabin near Moscow Mountain.

In 1938, Clara married Charles Reynolds, and the family eventually moved to Four Lakes, Wash. in 1958, where Clara has resided in the same small house for the past 58 years. In 1955, she received her license as a practical nurse through the state of Washington, and eventually worked at the Fairchild Air Force Base hospital beginning in 1965, serving patients there until she retired in 1987.

Gibbar said she has wonderful memories of her grandmother as well as her great-grandfather. No matter what he was doing, Gibbar said Van Luce always had a lemon drop in his pocket to give her.

"I may have had to pick lint and pipe tobacco off it," Gibbar said.

Luce-Reynolds and her husband had a farm at Four Lakes that the entire family benefited from. Gibbar said she didn't realize you could buy milk at the store until she moved away at age 19.

Luce-Reynolds also kept a "fabulous" garden, employing some of her grandchildren, including Gibbar, at times to pick potato bugs off the potato plants. Gibbar said she would give the kids a quart jar and pay them 1 cent per bug for every bug they could collect in the jar.

Gibbar said her grandmother has continued some fun habits even to the present day. One is a session of pinochle played each Saturday with Gibbar's mom, Dixie, her aunt Viv, Clara and her great-aunt Berle.

"And I mean marathon pinochle," Gibbar said of the all-day sessions.

When Berle passed away, Gibbar's cousin Kelli took her seat.

Another activity began in 1992 with Berle, Clara and three of her four daughters converging from all points of the compass on one central location - Las Vegas. Gibbar said they always made a trip of it, driving all over the Southwest to visit national parks and monuments.

"They just laugh and say it's their annual pilgrimage," she added.

For Clara Luce-Reynolds however, it was really about family.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].