Peggy Arness has been active on the Kenai Peninsula since before Alaska statehood – and old age won’t stop that. The former homesteader and longtime teacher celebrated her 100th birthday Monday with a party at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce.
Arness was born in Seldovia and moved to Kenai after World War II. She started Kenai’s first kindergarten in a small dry cabin that’s now on view at the Kenai Historic Cabin Park.
Arness also ran the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center for awhile. She’s the brains behind the chamber’s annual Christmas Comes to Kenai celebration and parade. And she also inaugurated an annual luncheon for people who have lived on the Kenai Peninsula for more than 50 years.
“She is one of the liveliest people I've ever known,” said Arness' daughter-in-law Dorothy Gray. They’ve known each other for more than four decades.
“She's just got a spark of energy to her that you would think, gee, somebody who's 70, 80 or 90 years old," Gray said. "They're kicked back retired, not her. No, she was going strong all the time.”
Gray says Peggy’s energetic and community-minded spirit is shared by her family. Her husband Jim served on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, as did their son, Joe.
Joe says his mom never backs down from a challenge.
“If you decide you're going to do something, just do it," Joe said. "Don't back away. And that's what she did with that procedure.”
The procedure he’s referring to is Peggy’s heart valve replacement. Although she’s wheelchair bound while recovering from surgery, Joe says his mom is on the up and up.
“It's kind of an amazing thing to make that kind of a decision at 100," Joe said. "That's somebody who wants to see 105.”
Some say the secret to living as long as Peggy is staying physically and civically active, while others credit her daily glass of red wine.
But the birthday girl says it’s none of the above.
“I think it's just what you give is what you should give and take," Peggy said. "So you have to begin that way, and work from there and believe in what you're doing.”
Peggy says she strives to be a role model to her two children, six grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.
