Reim celebrates as a centenarian

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Marie Reim turned 100 years old Wednesday, but you'd never know it to hear her speak or to look at her. Although she's been deaf much of her life, she spoke in clearly and distinctly as relatives and friends from as far away as the Twin Cities visited her at Oak Hills Assisted Living Center.

Reim can read your lips, or you can communicate with her by writing.

She still looks fit as a fiddle. Until recently, she swam daily at Vogel Arena.

Her diet is another focus of her attention.

Reim has a sweet tooth for chocolate, but she is very disciplined about what she eats, according to her caregiver, Barb Forst. She seemed happy about receiving a box of dates from California from one of her birthday party-goers.

Reim and her family frequently collided with history. Although she didn't realize it at the time, she was in Paris, France, with a college friend when Charles Lindberg made the first trans-Atlantic flight in 1927.

The granddaughter of St. Paul brewery owner Jacob Schmidt and the daughter of banker Adolf Bremer, she moved into what is now the Bohemian Bed and Breakfast on South German Street in New Ulm in 1929 after marrying New Ulm attorney Victor P. Reim.

Marie and Victor Reim raised three children in the house on South German.

Some of Reim's favorites include Schell's beer, chocolate cake, television shows "The Price is Right," and "The Young And Restless" and wintering in Pompano Beach, Fla.