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Summer 2015
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toWer
15
to a long life
KnowS The SecreT
kathryn Saul ’30
ou have to know how to laugh,”
she said,
with a big grin and twinkling eyes.
“Always smile. Eat well and get lots
of sleep. Be happy.”
These words to live by have served the
centenarian well. At 105 years old, Saul still
lives in Kutztown, nestled within the same
community which saw her
grow up, attend college, marry
her childhood sweetheart
and raise two sons. Frequent
visits from friends and family
fill her days, and her quick,
carefree smile makes it easy
to see why the 1930 yearbook
staff teased her for being
laid back.
“The worries and hard
goings of life seldom seem
to worry Kathryn, and her
lessons are no exception,”
they joked.
It’s rare to find someone
who has witnessed as much
as Saul has. Very few people
can boast about living
through the two world wars,
the Great Depression, and
Henry Ford rolling out the Model T.
But Saul is no stranger to change. In 1928,
when she enrolled at Kutztown, the institution
itself was transitioning from Keystone State
Normal School, a state-supported teacher
training school, into Kutztown State Teachers
College, which granted its very first bachelor
degrees that year.However, their two-year teacher
training program was still an overwhelmingly
popular choice among students, and it was
along this path Saul was determined to follow.
“My father encouraged me to go to college and
see how I liked teach-
ing,” she recalled. “So
I did, and I enjoyed it!
It was a different era –
there were certain
rules we had to follow –
like lights out at a
certain time. But I
was fortunate; I wanted
an education and my
father saw to it that
I got a good one.”
With her father’s
support, Saul was
poised for success.
At Kutztown, she
joined the Leader’s
Club, which trained
members to serve as
coaches and referees
for athletic activities
on campus, and the Philomathean Literary
Society, which promoted the discussion of
literature, music, drama and debating. Her
participation in these organizations was fueled
by her enjoyment of team sports and love of
By esther shanahan M’16
photography By John seCoges
Left: Kathryn Saul
during a spring 2015
visit to campus.
Saul’s 1930
yearbook photo.