Marge Ward Welcomes Visitors for 100th Birthday
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By Echo Menges
RUTLEDGE, Mo. — Family, friends and neighbors gathered Friday, Dec. 20, 2025, at the Rutledge Community Center to celebrate a milestone few reach — Marge Ward’s 100th birthday.
Ward officially turned 100 on Dec. 21, but the celebration came a day early, filling the community center with conversation, laughter and a steady flow of visitors eager to share memories and well wishes.
Guests enjoyed a meal, birthday cake and time visiting with Ward, who sat in a place of honor wearing a tiara beneath a festive pink-and-gold balloon backdrop, greeting everyone who came through the door.
The gathering reflected Ward herself — warm, welcoming and unmistakably down home.
Throughout the afternoon, Ward visited with guests from a comfortable chair at the center of the room, greeting relatives and longtime friends as they stopped by to talk, laugh and pose for photos. The setting was shaded in pink, with decorated tables, flowers and a birthday sign marking the rare occasion.
Several generations of Ward’s family were present for the celebration, highlighting a century of family ties rooted in the area.
As the cake was brought out, guests sang “Happy Birthday.” Ward smiled and laughed before blowing out candles shaped as the number 100, drawing smiles, laughter and applause from the crowd. An estimated 125 people attended the event.
The Rutledge Community Center provided ample space for guests to wish Ward a happy birthday, visit over finger sandwiches and cake, and share stories.
Reaching 100 years is an extraordinary milestone, but for those who attended, the celebration was about more than the number. It was a chance to honor a life well lived and the relationships built over generations — something Ward clearly enjoyed as she spent the afternoon surrounded by familiar faces.
“I thought today would be like any other day. Except when I walked in the door and saw all of this, I began to think to myself — I guess maybe I’m not as old as I think I am,” Ward said with a smile and a giggle.
Does she have a secret of life?
“No,” she told The Edina Sentinel. “Just that I made a point to work hard all my life. That’s just the way life is.”
Ward was born Marge Starkey in 1925 in Hudson, Illinois, to parents Cecil and Ethel Starkey. She grew up alongside her brother, Bill Starkey. On Feb. 10, 1946, she married Lloyd Ward in Bloomington, Illinois.
The couple’s descendants include two children, Connie and Bob; grandchildren Joey, Robert and Sarah; two stepgrandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and 14 great-great-grandchildren — and counting.