Woman celebrating 100th birthday still raises and sells cattle

SALINA, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) – Age is no factor for 100-year-old Ethel Diehl. She still prefers to work, raising and selling cattle.

“I prefer working to just doing nothing, watching TV, you know, or reading books,” she told KWCH. “I want to do my work first and then I have my evenings for that.”

Diehl turned 100 on Aug. 4 but was treated to another birthday celebration this week while selling her cattle in Kansas.

Having lived on a dairy farm as a child, Diehl has been around livestock most of her life, and she’s been raising cattle for the better part of a century.

“I’ve always done it since I got married in 1944,” Diehl said. “Because I lived on a farm, married a farmer, always had cattle, still do.”

She said staying active helps her manage the farm, even after her husband’s death.

“Because I worked and got in and out of four-wheel-drive trucks and things like that, I had the muscular ability to continue,” she said. “Never spent a day where I didn’t work, unless I was ill.”

The working mentality is also what Diehl believes the younger generations should adopt to have long and prosperous lives.

“Work. It’s a great benefit,” she said. “You need to be active, be a participant in what you’re doing. And really, you have to enjoy it. There’s all kinds of jobs, and what suits one does not suit another.”

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