Nell Ruth Paisley, who used to teach at the Moss School, then the Orr School and then in Durango, turned 102 on Nov. 24.
She lives near her two daughters who live in Loveland, and another daughter is in Mesa, Ariz.
Paisley taught in the Moss and Orr schoolhouses in the 1930s and 1940s near Bayfield. She and her husband and daughters then moved to Durango, and she taught at the old Animas School, Needham Elementary, Durango Jr. High School and Durango High School.
Paisley has talked several times on the telphone to Anne Schrier, a volunteer at the Pine River Valley Heritage Society, about the one-room school house the society has re-created in its museum on Mill Street.
She moved last April to an independent apartment in Good Samaritan Village and walks every day inside the facility.
"She is a big fan of the Bar D Wranglers and we sent her a copy of their DVD, Songs along the Rails and another CD with her favorite songs," Schrier wrote.
She earned two masters degrees in the 1960s in Spanish and English from Adams State College.
"She gets annoyed that she gets so confused these days," wrote her daughter Jackie. "I just remind her that she doesn't get any more confused than I do, and she's 32 years older! Ha!"
Students who would like to write to her can send letters or cards to the following address:
Nell Ruth Paisley
2101 S Garfield Ave
Apt #256
Loveland, CO 80537
