By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville —Kathleen, a lifelong Ortonville resident, will celebrate her 104th birthday at home with family.
Kathleen (Sanders) Leece was born Nov. 10, 1918 at home, 66 Cedar St., Ortonville, just a moment before the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when the Armistice was signed ending World War I. Her parents gave her the middle name Victoria in honor of the victory of World War I.
On turning 104 years old, Kathleen says, “I thank God for every day and for the many blessings He has given me.”
Kathleen reflected on the past century of growing up in Ortonville.
She walked to the Ortonville School at Cedar and Ball streets. Her mother had to watch her cross South Street carefully in front of their house because the DUR train tracks ran right down South Street in front of their house, she recalled.  When she was about 14 years-old her dad taught her to drive the family car a 1925 Chevrolet Touring Car with isinglass windows. After she graduated from high school she drove to Clarkston to get her driver’s license.
Kathleen recalls a dirt Telegraph Road, now known as M-15 and keeping the family milk, butter and meat cold in a small metal box inside the ever-present flowing well in their backyard.
She graduated valedictorian from Ortonville High School in 1936. The class trip was to Washington D.C.
“There were 11 students in our class,” she said. “ People volunteered to drive us to Washington. We camped in tents on the way and the trip took a couple of days to get there.”
Kathleen met John Elwyn Leece, while skating on the Old Mill Pond right down the street from their house. They were married on July 12, 1941 and lived at 1814 Hadley Road on the Leece Farm where Kathleen became a farmer’s wife.
She was secretary at Burt Elementary School from 1968-1983. Kathleen was married for 57 years to John Elwyn Leece, now deceased, and she continues to live in her own home with the help of her daughters, Cheryl and Connie. She is blessed with her two daughters and their husbands, four grandchildren and their spouses, 14 great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter.
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