Residents at Bridgeview Estates in Valley City sang “Happy Birthday” to Henrietta Dotting Friday when she sat down to eat in the dining room. They later held a party for her with a birthday cake and flowers. (Jean Schlegel/VCTR)

By Jean Schlegel
Valley City Times-Record

Henrietta Dotting is a “special woman,” said Jeanne Hedland, resident manager at Bridgeview Estates in Valley City. Dotting, who was celebrating her 102nd birthday on Friday, Jan. 4, took it all in stride, as she has so many birthdays before this one.
“She was washing her breakfast dishes this morning at 7:30 in her apartment,” Hedland said. She wouldn’t have to do any of this, but she likes to keep active. She also turns down a wheelchair when offered one, choosing her walker instead. But Hedland thinks this is what keeps this woman strong.
“I could sit and listen to her talk all day long,” Hedland says. “Her memory is better than mine.”
Dotting can remember details and people’s names from way back. She loves telling about her life.
Born on a farm near Dazey to George and Caroline Rasmusson, Dotting was one of six children. There were three boys and three girls in her family, and Dotting was the oldest. She is also the only one  from her family still living. Longevity doesn’t necessarily run in her family. Her father died of a heart attack when he was 62, and her mother lived to be 94. Dotting remarks that she never thought she would live this long. She still has two cousins left in Valley City.
When asked the age-old question if she has a magical recipe for living so long, she just smiles and says, “No, I don’t have a special recipe.” She just takes one day at a time.
Dotting attended college in Valley City from 1923 to 1925 and started teaching school in 1925 in Pierce Township near Wimbledon. She taught in this country school for two years. She then moved to Oregon, where she taught children from a logging camp near Coos Bay. Following this experience, she moved back to North Dakota, and taught in a rural school in Stewart Township. From there, she taught four years in Eckelson, and then back to Stewart Township for another two years.
Dotting recalls when she was teaching at the rural school in Stewart Township, she and another teacher had quite a scare. The other teacher kept a little boy in from recess. She was writing on the board, and he kept saying, “Miss Hegland, there's a fire.” The teacher didn't believe him at first, but then smelled smoke. They had a basket social recently at the school, and confetti fell into the floor register, and burned on the furnace, but there was no damage. It was just one more experience in her teaching days.
She said when she was teaching in the Stewart school, one of her student’s mother died, and little Marlene lived with Dotting for awhile. She said when she taught in the rural schools, she lived right in the school, where a room was always set aside for the teacher.The next move was to Sanborn where Dotting taught for seven years. This is where she met her future husband, William Dotting. They married in 1941, and lived on a farm. Although it wasn’t the practice for women to teach after they married, she did teach one more year, and retired from teaching in 1942. He husband died when he was 91 in 1994.
She says she loved teaching, but she also loved her farm home. She stayed active by being on the local school board, and the City Welfare board for 20 years. She was president of the school board, and instrumental in organizing the consolidation of schools to form what is now the North Central school. Leonard Potter became the superintendent and coach at North Central. Ironically, he was in her fifth grade class when she was still teaching school in Stewart Township. She said she doesn’t want to brag, but  Potter was a good man and excellent superintendent. It may have been from some influence from his teacher, but she won’t take credit for that.
Dotting and her husband never had any children of their own, but “her students were her children,” Hedland said. She said many of Dotting’s students still stop in to visit with her, and send her cards on special occasions, such as on her birthday.
When asked how times have changed, she said things nowadays “are so different.” She's seen it all, but she takes it all in stride; such as experiencing the marvels of electricity and plumbing, and the changing of transportation from horses to cars.
One thing that sticks out in her mind is when she and another teacher really wanted to go to the Barnes County basketball tournament in Valley City. They wanted to go, but they didn’t know how they would get there.
“The train stopped at our crossing, and so a local farmer, Hans Harstad, took us to the train with his team of horses,” she said. He later returned and picked them up upon their return.
Dotting moved to Bridgeview Estates 10 years ago when it first opened. She was the first person to move into the facility and didn't realize there wasn’t anyone else living in the building that first night. She said Bernie and Mary Wagner moved in right after her, and they have become fast friends. Hedland moved in five years ago and became resident manager. Hedland said Bernie Wagner is the maintenance man there. “He is the glue that holds us all together.” Dotting loves her apartment and being around people.
The dining room is just a few feet away from Dotting’s apartment, and at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 4, all the residents eating in the dining hall, sang “Happy Birthday” to Dotting as she entered. She was so touched, and kept her head down until they were done singing.
In the afternoon, there was a party for her with flowers and a birthday cake. She said it’s just amazing that she has lived this long. Her health is good, she has good friends, and she’s looking forward to her next birthday.

Henrietta Dotting, Valley City, was enjoying herself on Friday as she celebrated her 102nd birthday. She is still independent and has her own apartment at Bridgeview Estates. (Jean Schlegel/VCTR)