100-Year Old Wilmette Woman Enjoys Cubs Game at Wrigley Field

A 100-year-old resident of Mather Place of Wilmette recently had a chance to see her beloved Chicago Cubs in-person at Wrigley Field.

Ruth Bower, a born-and-bred Chicagoan, has long donned her red, white, and royal blue paraphernalia. At the outing, organized by the staff of Mather Place of Wilmette where she’s lived for more than 20 years, she proved you are never too old to go out to the ballgame, either. A private chauffeur was arranged, and on the drive to the ballpark, she recalled a century’s lineup of Cubs players and happily reminisced on the many afternoons she spent eating and shopping in Wrigleyville with her husband of 52 years.

Bower still remembers her first Cubs game back in 1927, when she tagged along with her father and a troop of Boy Scouts. She was only 12 at the time, but the ballpark memories lingered long after. She still remembers the “L” train passing by an apartment at the end of the Red Line, whose window shades would be up or down depending if they won.

The Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-0, in the game she attended this year.

“She told me she felt like a queen for the day, and she didn’t want the night to end,” said Drew Kowalski, Mather Place’s Experience Director, who accompanied her to the game.

During the game, she received a specially autographed Cubs illustration book and a goodies bag of Cubs keepsakes from the team.

“She’s the biggest Cubs fan I know,” Kowalski said. “It was definitely a memory I will never forget, and is a reminder of why we do what we do on a daily basis.”