Montana Centenarians Share Secrets as State Tackles Aging Challenges

HELENA — Dorothy Santala has a simple philosophy about reaching 102: “There is no secret, it just happens if you’re lucky,” she said. “Take life as it comes.”

Her matter-of-fact wisdom resonated Tuesday at the Great Northern Hotel, where Governor Greg Gianforte honored 21 Montanans who reached or surpassed 100 years old in 2025. Yet even as the state celebrated these remarkable milestones, the same conference was grappling with Montana’s mounting challenges in caring for its rapidly aging population.

The centenarian luncheon served as the inspiring centerpiece of the 56th annual Governor’s Conference on Aging, which this year carried the theme “Flip the Script” and opened Monday with a sobering “Meeting Montana’s Long-Term Challenges Summit.”

“This year, 21 Montanans have reached or surpassed the remarkable milestone of turning one hundred years young,” Governor Gianforte said. “In honoring our centenarians, we celebrate their lives while remembering the history of our great state and nation.”

While policymakers spent Monday discussing communication breakdowns, rural care access gaps, and funding crises in long-term care, Tuesday’s luncheon celebrated Montanans who had seemingly defied the odds.

Living History

The 2025 centenarian class includes one 109-year-old, one 105-year-old, one 104-year-old, two 103-year-olds, two 102-year-olds, four 101-year-olds, and 10 who turned exactly 100.

Their stories span more than a century of Montana history. Helena’s Richard Blossom, 101, served as a World War II paratrooper, sniper, and demolition expert from 1943 to 1945. He recalled his first parachute jump from just 100 feet in Fort Benning, Georgia—a 30-second drop to the ground with 12 other jumpers from a C-47.

After the war, Blossom returned home and built a 40-year career as a highway construction supervisor and part-owner of Hilde Construction Company.

Virginia Toews, 100, of Billings, arrived in Montana reluctantly in 1925. Born in McClusky, North Dakota, she agreed to move only after her farmer husband promised she could go “anywhere in the world” afterward—with one condition: “Not Montana.” He convinced her to try it for six months. Both fell in love with Big Sky Country and never left.

Betty Stimac, 100, of Great Falls, grew up on a farm south of the city when childhood visits meant traveling by horseback—no phones or cars connected her family to the wider world.

Perhaps most remarkable is Mickael Teig, 109, of Lebo, the eighth of 11 children born on the family farm where the post office once operated out of their home. When he turned 100, Teig taught himself to play the violin.

The Broader Challenge

While these centenarians embody successful aging, conference sessions revealed the complex challenges facing Montana’s growing older adult population. The three-day event included panels on “The Power of Alliance: How Aging Advocates United for Legislative Success” and breakout sessions addressing suicide prevention among seniors, hoarding in aging populations, and disaster preparedness.

Rural care access emerged as a persistent theme, with sessions focusing on aging in place, transportation barriers, and using technology to bridge service gaps in frontier areas. Other discussions tackled Medicaid application processing delays and the continuum of long-term care services.

The Department of Public Health and Human Services asked this year’s centenarians for their secrets to longevity, most amazing life events, and favorite quotes. All who responded will receive recognition proclamations from Governor Gianforte.

For Santala, the Billings resident who reached 102, the approach remains refreshingly straightforward: luck and acceptance. Her philosophy offers a counterpoint to the complex policy discussions surrounding her—sometimes the most profound wisdom comes from simply taking life as it comes.

The conference concluded Wednesday in Helena, with sessions on senior center operations, end-of-life planning, and advocacy strategies. Next year’s conference will be held in Kalispell.