Lillian V. COBURN

COBURN, RICHMOND, FRANKWITZ

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/6/2008 at 10:10:24

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)-copyright
August 11, 2004

by Christina Preiss; Staff Writer
Pg. 17W

ST. LOUIS PARK, MN -- Lillian V. Coburn, retired teacher

Lillian Coburn did something that few people could ever hope to achieve: She lived in three centuries.

Born in 1898 in Clarion, Iowa, she lived 105 years, a lifetime spanning the entire 20th century. She died Aug. 1 in St. Louis Park.

Coburn taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Coulter, Iowa, for many years.

"She was the janitor, the teacher - everything," said her daughter Rosalyn Richmond of Wayzata. "The one-room country schoolhouse was the center of the community."

She met William Coburn at a "box social" held at the school where she taught. They were married in 1924, and they raised six children.

They moved to Minnesota in the 1990s to a senior retirement home in Brooklyn Park and eventually moved to Westwood Health Care Center in St. Louis Park in 1997.

William Coburn died shortly after the move. They had been married for 73 years.

Lillian Coburn was "quite a devout Republican" and was very interested in politics, always keeping up with the latest news on CNN, Richmond said.

She often received birthday cards from past presidents such as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan because her son Maurice was heavily involved with Illinois state politics and arranged for the greetings, Richmond said.

Coburn also loved oil painting and making quilts.

"She was always busy. She didn't take naps," Richmond said. And she was a great storyteller - "she had a lot of tales," Richmond said.

Services were held Aug. 6 in Coulter, Iowa.

Coburn is survived by sons Maurice Coburn and Dr. William Coburn Jr., daughters Rosalyn Richmond and Beverly Frankwitz; 12 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.