ATWOOD—The oldest living siblings, according to the Guinness World Records’ latest documentation, hail from Wisconsin.
But a small town in Kansas can boast of its own record of sorts.
The combined age of those four sisters from Wisconsin as of August 2022 was 389. Their average age when they set the world record about a year ago was 97.25. The oldest was 101 years, and the other three were in their 90s.
The Holub sisters from Rawlins County in northwest Kansas grew up together and raised their families about 20 miles from each other. They reunited and lived together under the same roof again after all three had celebrated their 100th birthday.
The average age of these native Kansans when their story appeared in the July issue of The Register – the official newspaper of the Salina Diocese – was 103.3, with the oldest being 105.
Their combined age was 310. No, that is not a typo.
This hard-working, faithful family from our neck of the woods might not have made the list of Guinness World Records.
But their story is a good one. It’s one for the ages.
. . .
By DIANE
GASPER-O’BRIEN
Salina Diocese
“Register”
Three sisters sit at a table eating their lunch in a well-known location that overlooks a beautiful lake in Atwood.
It’s obvious who is the eldest, the one looking out for her younger sisters. Her name is Julia, and when Julia speaks, Lucy and Frances listen.
On a spring day in May, Julia tells her siblings they can’t have dessert today because they didn’t eat their vegetables.
Lucy probably didn’t care because her birthday was coming soon, and she knew she would get to eat cake then.
A couple of weeks later on June 11, Lucy did indeed get that cake. So did Julia and Frances because celebrating special days are commonplace in this facility – the Good Samaritan Center.
Besides, it’s a big deal when someone celebrates their 104th birthday – especially when her older sister, 105-year-old Julia, and the baby of the family, 101-year-old Frances, are sitting on either side of her.
Everyone in town knows these centenarian siblings, and they are a big deal every day.
Lifetime residents of northwest Kansas
Natives of Rawlins County, the three girls born to Florian and Frances Holub, attribute their longevity to hard work and strong faith and, of course, listening to what Julia tells them.
They all grew up working alongside their dad on the family farm. The older girls began their strong Catholic upbringing at St. John Nepomucene Parish near Beardsley and later attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Atwood. The St. John church was completed the same year Julia was born (in 1917).
“We even went to church on Saturdays for catechism,” Julia said, “and in the summertime, we went into town every day for two weeks of catechism.”
“The only time we missed church was because of muddy roads,” Lucy added, “and then we prayed at home.”
All three Holub sisters married farmers, and thus a life of hard work continued.
They raised their families within 20 miles of each other and often spent time together, especially on Sundays and holidays.
On this particular day, Joanna Shormann, one of Julia’s daughters who lives in Colorado, was visiting her mother and her aunts at the Good Samaritan Center. Joanna’s younger brother, Marty Kopriva, joined them from his farm near Atwood.
“We have great memories of being able to spend so much time with all our cousins and aunts and uncles,” Joanna said as Marty shook his head in agreement.
“I can remember Aunt Lucy helping Grandpa on the farm,” Marty added. “I rode in the truck with Lucy when I was a little boy.”
And I think to myself, “What a wonderful world!”
There were a lot of smiles and laughter while reminiscing about the wonderful life they agree they were blessed with.
They remembered driving the tractor on the farm, walking 2 miles to school in Beardsley and listening to the radio before they got a television.
They talked about how they were all born at home and how they grew up speaking Czech – both sets of grandparents were immigrants from Czechoslovakia – and learned to speak English when they went to school.
“I remember them teaching me English one word at a time,” Frances said of her older siblings.
The Holub sisters grew even closer in their later years.
After their children were grown and their spouses had passed away, Julia Kopriva, Lucy Pochop and Frances Kompus moved into Atwood. At one time, they lived in three apartments next to each other and played cards together nearly every night.
Frances and Lucy moved to the Good Samaritan Center a few years ago and became roommates again, just like they did in childhood. Julia continued to live on her own independently until shortly before her 105th birthday.
Once all three were reunited under one roof last year, they continued to visit each other, play bingo, attend Mass together on Wednesday and eat every meal together – where Julia has the last say.
“Well, they say I boss them around,” Julia said with a smile.
“But do we listen?” Frances asked, prompting a laugh from everyone around them.
“We absolutely love having the sisters here with us,” said Marie Sis, activities director at the Good Samaritan Center. “We are honored to have them live here.”
To know “the sisters,” to which they are affectionately referred, is to love them. They are well-known in the area and have even gained national attention. When Frances turned 100 in 2021, the sisters were featured in a story in USA Today.
These girls could have been an ideal backdrop for Norman Rockwell, one of America’s most popular storytellers of the 20th century, with his detailed, sentimental paintings of everyday Americana.
Family is their foundation
Collectively, the Holub sisters have celebrated 100-year-old birthdays together 13 times.
Mention another family get-together, and their eyes light up as they look forward to celebrating Julia’s 106th birthday in just a few months on Nov. 5.
Soon after that will come Christmas, one of the family’s favorite holidays. Joanna tells of how her mother still decorated her house for Christmas at age 104, carefully arranging the same nativity set she had set up for nearly 85 years.
For those who know them, the Holub sisters’ story is better than a Norman Rockwell painting.
Editor’s note: This day with the Holub sisters (May 24, 2023) will always remain a special memory for all involved. Frances passed away on June 28, and Julia and Lucy are now adjusting to life without their “baby sister.” But like everything they have faced in life, Joanna says, “their faith will get them through.”
