Vancouver woman celebrates her 100th birthday

Erma Madore, shown here on her wedding day with her husband Gene in 1946, is celebrating her 100th birthday this weekend. The Vancouver woman has eight children, 23 grandchildren, and more than 30 great-grandchildren. Photo courtesy Madore family

Erma Madore helped in the war effort in World War II, then raised a family that now includes more than 30 great-grandchildren

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

Erma Madore, this is your life, 100 years in the making.

Lucille “Erma” Christenson was born on April 22, 1924, and a century later, her eight children, and so many more in her extended family, are gathering this weekend in Clark County, where she has lived for the past 32 years.

“Mom is in great health and a joy to visit, with a sharp wit and funny sense of humor,” said David Madore. “Dad graduated to heaven (in 2019) at 98 years old. Mom’s faith in Jesus has continued her love and zeal for life after (nearly) 74 years of marriage, knowing that Dad is home and we are each invited to be reunited in time.”

Theirs was a love story for the ages.

Gene Madore was a World War II fighter pilot, participating in more than 100 combat missions over the English Channel and Western Europe.

His most impactful assignment as a pilot, though, might have been his first date with Erma. He took her flying.

They were together, so high in the sky in love, for the rest of Gene’s life. They were married in 1946.

Erma has carried on since Gene’s passing in 2019, enjoying her days with the family — that includes eight children, 23 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, and two more great-grandchildren on the way this summer.

Erma, too, is a hero from The Greatest Generation.

Born in Flint, Mich., she grew up with her sisters, helping to run the family grocery store and gas station in the town of Davidson. That was about a mile from where Gene lived. David Madore pointed out that Gene “made that little store his favorite due to a certain young beauty behind the counter.”

Lucille “Erma” Christenson was born in Flint, Mich., in April, 1924. Photo courtesy Madore family

With Gene off to war, Erma became a “Rosie the Riveter,” working for the AC Spark Plug Company in Flint. AC Spark Plug, a division of General Motors at the time, made a variety of goods during the war, including millions of aircraft spark plugs.

Erma became a “Rosie the Riveter” during World War II, working for AC Spark Plug, a division of General Motors at the time. Photo courtesy Madore family

Among her other jobs through the decades, according to daughter Suzan Bardzik: a mail carrier for the U.S. Post Office, a treasury department store supervisor, a cashier, the personnel department at JC Penny’s, in personnel for the City of Fullerton, Calif., a realtor, a manager at a chiropractor’s office, and work at US Digital in Vancouver.

Her most important role, though, was, and in many ways continues to be, raising and supporting her family.

A family a century in the making.

Erma and Gene Madore, shown here in a 1962 photo with their eight children. Photo courtesy Madore family