Aged to perfection: Longtime southside resident celebrates 104th birthday

The land used to be open fields as far as she could see.

Viola Arnold grew up on a farm on the southside along Hanna Avenue, surrounded by empty land with neighbors scattered miles apart. For much of her childhood, they didn’t have electricity.

Over her more than 100 years in the area, she’s seen the southside of Indianapolis explode with growth, so much so that it’s unrecognizable from her memories.

“When I was a kid, everything was farmland out there. Now it’s almost all gone,” she said. “Back then, I knew almost everybody in the township.”

Throughout her 104 years, Arnold has lived through the Great Depression, World War II and countless other challenges. She’s raised a family, started a career and enjoyed hobbies such as raising roses and crocheting.

On Feb. 23, she celebrated her 104th birthday with friends and family at her home at Altenheim, a senior living community, on the same road as the farm where she grew up.

The central meeting room inside Altenheim had been decorated with pink and purple bouquets of flowers. Sparkling silver and gold “Happy Birthday” banners stretched on the walls, with adornments surrounding it with quips such as “Aged to perfection” and “Old is the new gold.”

A sheet cake with purple frosting flowers proclaimed, “Happy 104th Birthday Viola.” Decorating the cake was a BINGO card — a nod to Arnold’s favorite pastime at Altenheim.

At the center of it all was the guest of honor, where fellow residents and family members came to honor her.

“It’s amazing I’ve gotten this old,” she said.

Arnold was born on Feb. 23, 1919 on the southside in Franklin Township, on the farm that her great-grandparents had founded after emigrating from Germany. She had four brothers and a sister, and together they helped care for the animals and raise food.

Though it was hard work, she enjoyed her childhood.

“It wasn’t easy, but we didn’t know any different. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she said.

When she was just 10 years old, the country was plunged into the Great Depression. Though many people struggled through the catastrophe, her family was always able to feed themselves, thanks to their self-sufficiency.

“We had food and canned it. We had a great big garden where we grew everything,” she said.

After high school, Arnold attended Indiana Business College for six months, studying typing and shorthand to train for future jobs. She worked for Etna Insurance Co. in the Merchants Bank Building in downtown Indianapolis, using a device called a Dictaphone to record meetings and other company business.

She worked at the company throughout World War II, and still remembers the scene in downtown Indianapolis when the war ended.

“There was all this screaming out on the street. We were on the ninth floor, and we looked down to see all of these people congregating on the streets. It was something else,” she said.

Arnold left the company when she married her husband, Harold, and they had two children — John Arnold and Janet Sparks. Harold Arnold died in 1988, and Sparks passed away in 2006. But John Arnold was at Altenheim on Feb. 23 to help celebrate his mom’s special birthday.

She has lived in Altenheim since 2017, making friends and lighting up the hallways with her personality.

Arnold can’t say what the secret of her long life is, but she knows who gets all the credit.

“I’ve had nothing to do with it. You who did? God above,” she said. “He’s the one who’s keeping me here.”