Woman celebrates her 106th

Are you one, two . . . 106?
Just last week, friends joined in singing “Happy Birthday” to Mary Bihl, who turned 106 years young on April 4.
The still-spry woman, who spent 55 years as an X-ray technician at Mary Immaculate Hospital, from 1920 to 1975, is currently a resident at the adjacent Monsignor Fitzpatrick Pavilion for Skilled Nursing Care, where she plays bingo, sings in the choir, participates in pet therapy and engages schoolchildren in intergenerational programs.
In fact, she plans to go on the next trip to Target to shop, where, she was teased, she will spend her birthday money.
“She likes to do word searches, read and write letters,” said Theresa Morale, Director of Recreational Therapy at the Pavilion.
One of the recipients of Bihl’s letters is long-time friend Betha Funk, 74.
Funk, who lives in Germany and has traveled to the U. S. for Bihl’s birthday every year since she turned 100, worked at Mary Immaculate with her friend.
“I started to learn from her,” said Funk. “We grew together and helped each other.”
When asked about her decades-long career, Bihl, who still remembers exactly how she got the job, said, “I didn’t want to be a nurse,” and quipped, “I was used to the nuns,” referring to the Dominican Sisters who founded Mary Immaculate and ran it during her years there.
“She has seen a lot of things,” said Juliet Lewis, spokesperson for Mary Immaculate. “She has seen the demographics change, people come and go, and equipment change.”
When asked about her plans for turning 107, Bihl said, “Oh, that’s a whole year.”
However, Funk is already planning her trip.