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BY ROZELLA HARDIN
Editorial Director
rozella.hardin@elizabethton.com
Trudy Banks celebrated her 100th birthday Sept. 8.
Trudy is a native of Lithuania, but immigrated to Poland, and later to Germany, where she met her husband, Nelse Banks, an American serviceman from Carter County, who was serving with the U.S. Air Force.
“My sister worked for his boss as an interpreter and that is how we met. My mother lived in Germany,” said Trudy, who does quite well for her age, though she is confined to a wheelchair much of the time.
Trudy and Nelse, who is also living, but has not quite reached 100 yet, were married on Dec. 24, 1948 in Germany, and later moved to the United States. “We were married twice in one day. The first time it was like a courthouse ceremony. The second time was in a church with an American minister,” said Trudy, noting the couple had been married 75 years. “He (her husband) is my rock,” she added.
The couple are the parents of four children – three daughters and a son. They include Barbara Nye, Terri Brummitt, Shirley Hughes, and Roger Banks, who lives in Corpus Christi, Tx.
Trudy said raising her children was the most important thing she had done, but she did enjoy traveling and had been to a lot of places. She also enjoys crocheting, knitting, and embroidering. “I’ve always stayed busy, and stay involved with my family especially my grandchildren,” she shared.
Trudy worked at Levi-Strauss for 20 years.
Trudy shared that she still is trying to learn to cook “East Tennessee style.”
Full of vim and vigor for her age, Trudy said life had been good to her. “I have a good husband, a good family, so much good in my life, what more could I ask for,” she quipped.
She and her husband are members of First United Methodist Church, Elizabethton.
The family will have a get-together to celebrate their mother’s birthday on Sept. 16 from 2 to 4 p.m. at First Christian Church.