Tillie Berndt came from Beaver County, Okla., to the Portland metro area with her young family — including five children — during World War II and like so many of her generation, found herself working as a welder at the Portland shipyards. She later worked for what is now Foster Farms and also as a worker in a factory making boxes for retailers such as Lippman’s and Meier & Frank.
She and her second husband, John Berndt, a railroad engineer, moved to north Portland after the birth of their son, Les. After John’s death, Tillie moved to Vancouver to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She lives at Vancouver Pointe Senior Village, where she enjoys playing games with friends and is on the Wii bowling league. An Aug. 27 party at Vancouver Lake — including a bluegrass band and barbershop quartet — marked Tillie’s birthday. She was thrilled to have more than 100 friends and family in attendance.
Her granddaughter, Amy Mekelburg, quoted Tillie as saying the secret to staying young is to “laugh a lot, and adjust to change.”
