North Naples woman celebrates more than 100 years of life

The wind was strong, whipping around the two birthday balloons that Russ and Lorie Thomas tied to the back of Solveig Birkeland’s wheelchair.

They were nearing the Gulf of Mexico, the place where Birkeland had requested to spend her 102 or 103 birthday last week — her personal documents give conflicting accounts for the year she was born.

Butler, Birkeland and Russ and Lorie Thomas are longtime friends. They arrived at the parking lot of Barefoot Beach on Friday afternoon.

A park ranger with a beach wheelchair with thick gray tires, which could move easily across the sand, greeted them there.

Once Birkeland was seated in the beach wheelchair, Russ Thomas and the park ranger wrapped a maroon blanket around Birkeland's shoulders and a placed a bright blue blanket over her lap.

“It’s a little chilly to be on the beach,” Birkeland said to her friends.

“Nah, you’re bundled up good,” Lorie Thomas told her.

At about 2:35 p.m., Birkeland rolled across the boardwalk. Russ Thomas pushed her wheelchair. Lorie Thomas and Susan Butler, Birkeland's daughter, walked behind them toward the water.

Although the beach was quiet, the waves crashed on the shore and the sun peeked through the clouds, almost as if it was waiting for Birkeland's arrival.

Birkeland's native home Norway had snow six months out of the year, so she had to learn to ski when she was a young girl.

Because of those snowy days, Birkeland grew to become an avid reader, a habit she has kept throughout her life.

“Reading is the best,” she said. “I even remember the first book I read was about a boy traveling across Greenland.”

Birkeland was born in the municipality of Torpa, Norway. She was the youngest of six sisters and had three younger brothers, said Butler, 73.

Birkeland came to the U.S. from Norway when she was 19.

She has baptism and confirmation records from her home country that indicate she was born on Jan. 12, 1915. But her U.S. citizenship papers mark her birth year in 1916. 

Although Birkeland and her daughter believe 1915 is probably the right year, the birth year mix up didn't seem to matter much, as Birkeland and her loved ones gathered to celebrate Friday. 

First, they went to lunch at The Other Side Bistro in Bonita Springs, where Birkeland ordered a BLT sandwich, her favorite. Then, her daughter and her friends took Birkeland to one of her favorite places: the beach.

One of Birkeland’s sisters was a nanny in Washington, D.C., for a member of the Norwegian diplomatic corps, but came down with tuberculosis, Butler said.

When Birkeland’s sister was sent back to Norway due to the disease, Birkeland asked to take over her sister’s job.

The 19-year-old took a boat and then a train to Washington, D.C.

“She didn’t speak a word of English,” Butler said of her mother. “To learn English, she went to see every movie she could.”

Butler said her mother lived and worked in Washington D.C. for a few years before moving to New York City.

New York would become Birkeland’s home for nearly the rest of her life.

In New York, Birkeland worked in a restaurant and then a Brooklyn bakery. She met her husband in Brooklyn.

Birkeland later entered banking, working with Chemical Bank and the American Bankers Association. Then, Butler said, Birkeland spent the last 25 years of her career working for J.P. Morgan Chase as the head teller in a Manhattan office.

“She is quite a remarkable lady,” Butler said of her mother. “To come here at age 19, not know a soul and not speak a word of English, she came a hell of a way.”

When Butler first moved to her home in North Naples around 2007, her mother would spend the winter months — January through April — with her. Birkeland lived on Long Island for the remainder of the year.

In Southwest Florida, Birkeland went to Barefoot Beach.

“Barefoot Beach — that’s her favorite place in the world down here. She could sit at the beach if she could, all day,” Butler said.

Birkeland fractured her femur about two years ago, her daughter said. After that, Birkeland moved to Collier County with Butler and now lives in Brookdale North Naples, an assisted living facility off of Immokalee Road.

Since moving into Brookdale, Butler said she has made several trips to Barefoot Beach with her mother, who loves spending time in the sun.

“She will follow the sun no matter where she is,” Butler said.

One of Birkeland’s frequent visitors at Brookdale North Naples is Russ Thomas.

Thomas, 80, and his wife Lorie Thomas, 79, have known Birkeland and Butler for many years. Butler’s sister-in-law and her sister-in-law’s husband are close friends with Russ and Lorie Thomas, so Butler and her mother knew the couple from family gatherings.

The couple, from upstate New York, spend their winters in Bonita Springs, which has allowed the families to spend a lot of time together.

“We became really good friends,” Butler said. “I absolutely adore the two of them.”

Russ and Lorie Thomas also grew close to Birkeland. Russ Thomas frequently visits her at Brookdale North Naples.

“He gets on his bike a couple times a week and rides all the way down to Brookdale to visit my mother and rides home again,” Butler said.

Russ Thomas describes Birkeland as a feisty, spirited woman and said he enjoys the regular visits with her.

“It’s something I look forward to,” he said.

Birkeland said she values their friendship, too.

“He’s a gem,” she said.

Birkeland said another birthday, whether it is 102 or 103, doesn’t change very much and the annual celebration isn’t easy now that she is over 100 years.

“They say it’s wonderful, but it isn’t when all of your family is gone,” she said.

Now that she is older, it’s also harder for Birkeland to read. She said she uses large-print books and a magnifying glass.

Birkeland spent her birthday last year in the hospital due to congestive heart failure and pneumonia.

This year, a happy Birkeland made it to the beach.

Russ Thomas, with a “yee-haw," wheeled his friend to the middle of the beach and told her he would be right back. They had a surprise for her.

“He’s probably going to throw me in the water,” Birkeland said.

As she waited for Russ Thomas to return, she held onto the blankets to keep warm and stared out at the water as the sun shone through the clouds.

“I love the sun,” she said.

Thomas returned with colored shot glasses of Bailey’s Irish Creme for each member of their party.

Birkeland smiled as Thomas handed her a blue glass. She sipped the drink as her loved ones toasted her and sang, “Happy Birthday.”

When Birkeland was ready to go, Thomas rolled her around the beach one more time, zipping by a flock of seagulls who scattered as they passed.

Butler said she’s amazed, but not surprised, to see her mother reach another birthday this way.

“She’s always had the will and determination,” Butler said.

The party headed back to their cars after leaving the beach. Birkeland had one more celebration to attend: a party at Brookdale North Naples later that day.