Centenarian says key mostly diet

And it doesn't hurt to be Nordic

The flags of the United States, Denmark and Sweden were on display Sunday to honor Bothilda O'Neill, who has lived in each of those nations during her 100 years.

Known to family and friends as "Bo" or simply "B," O'Neill shared her many secrets of longevity with a gathering of residents at Village at Victory Lakes.

Part of that package, she said, is good Nordic lineage.

"I had a cousin who lived to be 104," she said, "and my grandmother was 94 when she went out to pick flowers one afternoon, sat down and passed away."

Nephew Richard Obermanns, who with brothers Peter and James represent her sole living relatives, said O'Neill's father was also known for his endurance -- Nils Nihlen worked as a toolmaker for Nash Motors in Kenosha until he was 77.

Bothilda Nihlen was born Nov. 1, 1909, on the south side of Milwaukee. She recalled that she and her sister, Eda, were sent to live with relatives in both Sweden and Denmark around 1919, returning about a year later when her family settled in Waukegan and then in Kenosha.

By the 1930s, she took a job as a bookkeeper with O'Neill's Hardware, one of the ancestral businesses in Lake Forest. In 1953, she married owner Joseph O'Neill and ran the business with him until he died in 1978.

Photos from her lifetime on display Sunday showed such things as her visit to the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. Thinking back on her own century of progress, O'Neill said the key to good health comes down to what you eat.

"I think it's a case of good food," she said, enjoying a plate of appetizers. "Good diet is where you cut down on your food and be sure that it's diversified -- don't eat the same thing all the time."

She also advised that "you give up desserts and do not snack between meals. Then, when your health is good, you can add some things."