Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Morgal
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 3/07/2018
Morgal, Amy – Party Brings Smiles (101-year-old – 5 March 2018)
Party Brings Smiles to Area 101-year-old
Amy Morgal gave a wave to guests attending her 101st birthday party March 5 at the Neillsville Care and Rehabilitation Center. (Scott Schultz/Clark County Press)
By Scott Schultz
When Amy Morgal was offered a slice of pizza during a March 5 party in her honor, she reacted as anyone who was celebrating a 101st birthday might like to respond.
“Where’s my beer?” she said with a smile and a laugh.
Morgal was joined by family and friends at the Neillsville Rehabilitation and Care Center to celebrate her milestone birthday with pizza and a little beer, a couple of her favorites.
Family members gathered at the party noted how Morgal continues to maintain good humor, as evidenced by an answer to a question about her family: She explained that she’s the youngest of five children, and then added, “I always said I was the best-looking of them, too.”
Morgal was born in the Tioga area in 1917, following her family’s 1914 move there from Ely, MN.
She recalled walking about five miles along the railroad tracks on Sundays from her family’s farm at Tioga to Holy Family Catholic Church.
She and her siblings attended the Blackberry School – so named because of an abundance of blackberries in the area – which was across from the farm.
Among her favorite childhood memories is, as a small child, taking three eggs from the farm with the intention of trading them for candy at the Tioga Store – a plot that was headed off by her mother before it could unfold.
Morgal never married; only one of the family’s siblings did. She lived in a house across the road from the family’s farm until moving to Neillsville.
During her birthday party, Morgal told a happenstance guest to visit her when he gets the chance. And then, she invited all the guests to join her in enjoying the day’s pizza and that bit of beer.
