And that was the year Edna Decker of Sugar House was born. Her life began in the little town of Irnott, Wis., about 110 miles north of Madison, as a twin. At 14 years old, she started working as a switchboard operator, working 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

"I would lie down on a cot next to the switchboard. Sometimes there wouldn't be a call for three hours, and sometimes I wouldn't get any sleep," Decker recalls. She made $50 a month, and it didn't matter that she occasionally slept on the job.

When Decker married at 18, World War I had been over for eight years. After the birth of three of her four children, the family settled in Salt Lake City in 1930. They rented a furnished home at 1583 Laird Ave. for $65 a month. All the lots to the east were vacant and the population of Salt Lake City was 140,267.

Decker has seen a lot of change in her 103 years. The most amazing? The automobile.

"That was nice when we didn't have to hitch up the horse anymore," she says with a laugh.

She also is amazed by television. She recently went to dinner with one of her great-grandsons who works in real estate. He used a small, hand-held device to see pictures of homes on sale, their location and phone numbers. Decker says she can't imagine how such things work.

Decker doesn't have a complicated medical history. She took out a health insurance policy about five years ago and the insurance processor called, confused. He kept asking if she was sure that she didn't take more pills than those listed on her application. She said she only takes pills for her blood pressure and thyroid. She hasn't seen a doctor in more than a year and she has outlived her twin sister by 26 years. Her husband died 40 years ago.

Resiliency seems to run in Decker's blood. She broke her pelvis a year ago, but didn't know it for four days

She is fully recovered and doesn't feel like it has slowed her down. Decker lives alone, cooks her own meals, eats lots of grains, fruits and vegetables and keeps an immaculate home.

She wonders why she's still here, but isn't ready to die. She has friends who have told her that they worry about death. Decker tells these friends, who are more than 20 years younger, to let go of worry, to get up and move around.

"That'll kill you," she says about sitting around, doing nothing but watching TV. She keeps busy crocheting blankets for people in a long-term care facility to pass the time. Decker gets up before 8 a.m., crochets for an hour in front of a sunny window facing the mountains before getting up and walking around.

Occasionally she watches the large airplanes flying over the Wasatch Mountains and the cars and trucks driving up and down 2100 South. The Wright Brothers and Henry Ford would be pleased.

The Salt Lake Tribune's community news team is looking for recruits in the Salt Lake valley area to contribute articles to our new weekly news sections. Freelance writers, students, former high school or college journalists and aspiring reporters are welcome to apply.

Please send letter of interest to:

90 S. 400 West Suite 700, Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Attention Hilary Groutage, or by e-mail to hgroutage@sltrib.com