By Michelle Samartino | The Michigan Catholic

DETROIT — “Hard work!” The key to longevity is “hard work!” Katie Brunkey exclaimed.

She would know. The 100-year-old senior has dedicated her entire life to working hard and caring for others.

Having grown up as a member of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Grotto) Parish in Detroit, and currently a member of St. Rene Goupil Parish in Sterling Heights, Brunkey has slowed down a little bit physically, but certainly not mentally.

She recalls meeting Fr. Solanus Casey at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit in the early 1950s. He told her to be a strong woman and to take care of “Sis.”

Sis is one of four children — two sets of twins — born to Brunkey and her late husband, Leonard. Sis, who has cerebral palsy, lives with her twin, Shirley, who is also her caregiver, along with Brunkey, in Sterling Heights.

Brunkey makes well-known her respect for Mother Earth, having been raised on a farm with 10 brothers and sisters in Cheboygan, in the Diocese of Gaylord, where the family were members of Sacred Heart Parish.

She remembers walking to the church for catechism every Saturday, and in the summers, she and her siblings would walk barefoot so as not to ruin their shoes.

The annual chicken dinner at Sacred Heart Parish first began as a result of the pastor there asking her mother to be the head cook, just a few weeks after she had given birth to one of her brothers. Back then, Brunkey said, “There was no such thing as (pre-)cooked chicken.” Each chicken was fresh and “the farmer brought the chickens to the church to be killed,” she recalled. “We had to start from scratch.”

And although they would walk two to three miles to get to church, that was no deterrent. To this day, the picnic is still held on the last Sunday of August.

The Brunkey family continued to spend their summers in Cheboygan even after she moved to Detroit. Brunkey has fond memories of growing flowers there (her favorites being African violets and Baby Tears), constantly keeping them weed-free. She had several admirers of them as a result, many of them stopping by and asking if they could make a bouquet.

But there were difficult times as well, as she recalls the Depression. “If you had money in the bank, you couldn’t draw it out because the banks were all closed,” she said. “But if you needed groceries, you would go to the grocery store, where if you had $1, you wouldn’t be able to carry all the bags.

“When you got groceries, they would give you a slip of paper of what you picked up, and when the banks opened, you would take those slips of paper to the bank and they would give you the money for the grocery store,” Brunkey recalled.

Because there was no such thing as welfare, she continued, you had to find ways to earn money: “You could use a wheelbarrow or a broom or shovel or whatever was presented to you. You would get 50 cents an hour to clean up the streets or you could get $1 — but you had to work two hours.”

Children nowadays need to be more appreciative of the things they have, she says. “No one wants to be a farmer. They do all of this,” she said, motioning her fingers running across an imaginary keyboard, “and they’ve forgotten all about the pencil!”

“Kids should be on a farm,” she said.

One of the hardest parts of growing older is having lost her sight, Brunkey says. She was an avid reader of three newspapers a day, and she loved watching the Detroit Tigers on TV. Nonetheless, she keeps up with current events, as her friends or family still read several parish bulletins to her every week.

Brunkey says she loved working with her hands, evident in her love of crocheting. Many of her family and friends were recipients of one of the 500 afghans she made over a lifetime.

She says her favorite food is chicken noodle soup with the noodles “extra soft,” and although she likes the occasional green pepper, she doesn’t like the price one has to pay these days: “A dollar fifty for a green pepper! The skin is so thin!” she says, like a true farmer.

Her son, Leonard, continues to be amazed by his mother’s ambition. “My mother likes to be in charge,” he said. “She thinks she always has to stay busy.”

He inherited her green thumb, though, and continues to help her garden, grow raspberries and feed the birds. “She always has to have fresh flowers, so I’ll cut them for her so she can enjoy them,” he adds with a smile.

Leonard’s wife, Cathy, agrees. “Mom is amazing,” said Cathy, whose history with the family started while growing up across the street. “I pray the dear Lord can continue giving her this amazing health in mind, spirit and soul.”