BIOGRAPHY

Leuthner was born in Long Prairie, Minnesota, USA, on 19 May 1910. Her parents were Frederick William Dreher (1879–1970) and Frieda Schmekel (1889–1969), both of German descent. She had three sisters: Amelia Wilhelmina Arendt (1908–2009), Edna Bertha Marie Schahn (1912–1984) and Selma Helen Johnson (1914–2010). The family lived on a farm just outside Long Prairie. Four sisters studied music from the local nuns, where Alma learned to play the violin and the piano. After graduating from Long Prairie High School, she attended the St. Cloud College of Business during the late 1920s.

In 1930, she moved to Alexandria, Minnesota, where she met her future husband, John Leuthner (1904–1996), whom she married on 1 May 1933. The couple had three children: John Frederick (died an infant in 1947), William and Sally. In 1932, she joined Zion Lutheran Church.

At the age of 95, she had surgery for colon cancer. At the age of 98, she stopped driving and moved into a nursing home.

Leuthner passed away at Knute Nelson Care Center in Alexandria, Minnesota, USA, on 9 October 2020, at the age of 110. She was survived by two children, 4 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

At the time of death, she was the third-oldest (known) living person in the U.S. state of Minnesota, behind Erna Zahn and Opal Johnson.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Alma Leuthner Obituary” – Anderson Funeral Homes, 2020

* “Strong heart beats past 110” – Alexandria Echo Press, 29 May 2020

GALLERY