Elm Terrace Gardens celebrated a centenarian birthday this week.
Betsy Ichihara, a beloved longtime resident, got a cake and a party on Monday, Nov. 21 at the continuing care retirement community at 660 North Broad St.
Betsy was born in 1922 on the island of Maui and grew up on the island of Lanai in Hawaii, where the Dole Company grew their pineapples. There are no pineapples there today, but two hotels are situated on the island, according to Elm Terrace.
Betsy met her future husband George Ichihara while she was on a cruise with her mother. Obviously smitten with Betsy, he changed his schedule so that he could accompany them back to Hawaii. They were married Oct. 10, 1953.
Following their marriage, they moved to Lansdale where George worked for the American Chick Sexing Association. The house that they initially rented was on property later purchased by the North Penn School District, and is now the location of North Penn High School's football field.
After a few years, they purchased a home on Pennbrook Avenue in Lansdale, where they lived for 50 years. Betsy was employed by Rohm and Haas Company. The couple enjoyed extensive traveling to Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand, Austria, Turkey, Australia, Italy, and to Germany where they attended the Oberammergau Passion Play in the year 2000.
Their son, Todd, graduated from North Penn High and Lehigh University. He works for Con-Edison as a financial forecaster. Todd and his wife, Joanne, retired to Florida a few years ago but visit often; they both attended the birthday party, as did state Rep. Steve Malagari.
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