One hundred and seven and still mowing the lawn

by John Dowd

“We were so poor, and always worked so hard. Maybe that’s why God forgot about me,” said Donna Gandara with a laugh. Last Thursday she turned 107 years old, and her family believes her astounding longevity is due to four things: her positive attitude, her genetics, her very active lifestyle and her faith.

Gandara was born in 1916 in El Granjenal, in Michoacán, Mexico. Her father owned a shop that sold things like cigarettes. They lived there during the violent years of the Mexican revolution, which started in 1910 and ran until around 1920. The conflict was a prolonged period of rapid regime changes, after which the Mexican government was conformed into a strong central government which was given far more power than it had originally. The  civil war would cause the deaths of over two million combatants. 

During the conflict, several revolutionaries came into Gandara’s father’s store and took what they wanted. When her father asked for payment, they threatened his life. After that, he decided to leave and take his family to America. They came and went for several years, spending many of their first years in New Mexico, where he worked as a cowboy. Eventually, they would find their way to California and then to take their chances in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. This was when the valley sugar beet boom was just getting off the ground. 

There was a processing facility in Missoula, and many farmers and ranch hands started producing the crop. According to Gandara’s daughter, Dolores Gandara, most of the valley was used at that time for the sugar beets and her grandfather was very good at growing them. 

She explained that when her grandfather discovered Montana, he said it needed to be his home for the rest of his life. According to Donna, “He always said this must be God’s country. He said, he will be living here forever.” 

Their family settled in Stevensville in 1929, and Donna went to school at Lone Rock. Her husband’s family was also from Mexico, and he went to school in Stevensville. The two met at a Mexican family gathering and fell in love. They married in 1935, after eloping to Wallace, Idaho because Donna’s father forbade the marriage, thinking she was too young. Donna and her husband were together for 72 years.

Eventually, the sugar beet craze ended after the growing season in Montana seemed to get shorter and the processing moved to Billings. The industry nearly died in the valley, though Donna’s father continued to grow very large beets. Her family kept farming and ranching, and even ran a dairy business for a number of years. 

Donna said she worked all her life. Her daughter estimates that after having six kids, Donna now has at least 14 grandchildren and over 11 great grandchildren. She, herself, came from a family of 10. Throughout the many years they lived in the valley, they spent most of their time around Corvallis and Hamilton.

When asked about her mother’s long life, Dolores said, “My mother is a very positive person. She was very active and she worked very hard.” Dolores said Donna has also had a lot of family support, and has a great sense of humor she always shares with her family. This year for a family celebration of Donna’s birthday, the weekend prior to her actual birth date, her family gave her something special. One of Dolores’ sisters came up with a list of 106 attributes that Donna typified throughout her life. These included her kindness, generosity and work ethic. Chief among these was her positivity. 

Dolores also attributes her mother’s long life to her genetics. Many of their family has lived long lives, and Donna’s parents even lived until 96 and 94 years old. 

Donna grew up walking everywhere, and did not even have a pair of shoes until they moved to the United States. In Mexico, she walked up to the mountains to collect wood for houses and businesses. One of which was her grandfather’s oven, where he baked bread for the village. Every once in a while, Donna and her sisters would steal a loaf or two, but she said that her grandfather never seemed to notice, or at least never said anything. She packed water around the area for families and continued both into America for neighbors’ flower gardens. In her 60s, Donna was still running along the railroad tracks nearly every day to Stevensville or Corvallis from their home, which was about six or seven miles one way. She was still hiking in the mountains up into her 90s. Today, she still mows the lawn on her riding lawn mower. 

Most of all, Dolores explained that her mother has always had her faith. “She’s been a good Catholic all her life.” Donna said her life has been beautiful and she remembered, after speaking so much about her life during this interview, that she really did have a good childhood and they had fun while they did everything. To her, the long life has been a blessing, that seems earned by every one of those steps she took and by the hard work she did for her family, every single day.