Lina Pernaa's 101 years of life lessons
Local centenarian met Cival War soldiers while in elementary school
By Diane Beaudoin Journal Correspondent

Lina Pernaa celebrated her 101th birthday in Ashby on January 20. Her secret is to not yearn for what you can't have, and have strong hearty Finnish genes. Journal Photo/Diane Beaudoin

"Don't yearn for things you can't have, and find something good in everything in your life," are the words Ashby's Lina Pernaa has lived by for 101 years.

Lina turned 101 on January 20, and was feted with a big party given by her friends at the Ashby Senior Center of which she is a member.

Born in Fitchburg in 1906, and moving to Ashby in 1940 with her then-new-husband Waino, Lina said she's had "a very happy long life."

The mother of three children, grandmother to eight, and great-grandmother to eight, Lina still lives in her home and stays pretty much self-sufficient.

"I told my children I do not want to go into a home, I am staying put right here," she smiled. "I have a lot of friends."

Lina, a pure Finn, also attributes her longevity to her mother's side of the family.

"My mother lived to be 92, and her sister lived to be 97. Finns are a stoic and hearty people and we're not too noisy. I learned early on to be happy with what I had. My mother and father didn't have a lot of money, so all my brothers and my sister and myself never wasted time wanting things we couldn't' have," she explained.

She said she was a stay-at-home mom with her children, while her husband made a living as principal of Ashby High School. Waubi Pernaa passed away in 1982.

"It wasn't hard to be a mom that stayed home, we only had the one car," she recalled.

Lina said she loves living in Ashby as it's an old-fashioned town.

"We are very friendly here, most people know each other. It's a nice old fashioned village that has been good to me," she said.

Lina remembers that when she was an elementary school student in Fitchburg Civil War soldiers came her school to talk to the children, typically around Memorial Day. She attended Academy and Pleasant Street schools, then went on to graduate from Fitchburg High in 1922 at the age of 16.

"I don't think there are too many people left that remember Civil War soldiers talking to them," Lina quipped.

A folded flag sits framed in her living room, which she said was a gift from the United States Navy for donating Christmas trees for 20 years that were set up on the U.S.S. Constitution.

"All the neighbors would come over and we would pick out a tree to cut down, and the captain of the ship would come over too. We would open up the barn and have coffee and cocoa and whatever I had in the house. We'd cut down the tree for the sailors, so they gave me this flag as a thank-you," Lina said.

Lina noted it is a very different world now from when she knew as a young woman.

"Back then, we used our imaginations. We used to make a dollhouse out of an orange box and made the furniture from cardboard. It was wonderful. Nowadays, people want everything right away and the world goes so fast."

Lina still goes out every chance she gets, and also continues to love Finnish foods.

"I don't cook anymore, but I still love to eat, I still love my coffee," she laughed.

All three of her children graduated from Ashby High School, and all went on to college.

"We did the best we could, and all the children, and grandchildren have turned our just fine. They are all happy," she said.

Some of Lina's original art work hangs in her home.

"Maybe if I'm still feeling good this summer, I might start painting again," she said.

Lina plans to continue living her life as she always has done, staying happy with whatever comes her way.

"I've had some illnesses, but good things come out of that too. I'm still here, still doing what I can, and still feeling happy with what I have," she said.

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Diane Beaudoin is a correspondent for The Community Journal and can be reached at (978) 827-3386, ext. 10.