Kings Mountain woman celebrates 105 years of life

Meta Kopruch sat under the festive banner draped with multi-colored balloons and letters spelling out happy birthday.

Her daughter, Heidi Jones, carefully placed a sparkly tiara on her head a birthday banner was draped around her shoulders.

The diminutive woman with a halo of white curls and a sweet smile celebrated her 105th birthday on Monday with a party at White Oak Manor in Kings Mountain.

Born in Germany, Kopruch spent many years living in a city that, translated from German, means Kings Mountain. In 1955, she immigrated with her husband and two children to the United States, arriving at Ellis Island to be processed before the family settled in Cleveland County.

A crowd of residents, nursing home staff and family gathered Monday afternoon to recognize and celebrate her long life. Mayor Rob Wagman attended the party and read a proclamation.

"It is a special day for sure," Wagman said.

In the proclamation, he read that Kopruch was born on April 7, 1919, in Alt-Sussemilken, Germany and was the third youngest of 11 children. He spoke about how she immigrated to the U.S. to build a better life for herself and her two children and ended up in Kings Mountain.

He said following retirement, she enjoyed traveling, gardening, cooking and going for long walks.

A table displayed photos of Kopruch over the years, from the time she was a young woman in Germany to wedding photos, family pictures and up until the current day.

In a biography, written down by her family, it tells the story of her life, which had its share of hardship.

When Kopruch was 12, her father died and her mother, unable to care for 11 children, was forced to send her daughter and two of her other children to an orphanage. Eventually, Kopruch lived with a foster family where she worked on their farm. She didn't see her own family for six years. When she was 19, she moved to a port city in Prussia on the Baltic Sea that translated into English, means Kings Mountain. Kopruch worked as ticket inspector for the railway system up until 1944 when Russia invaded the city, and she was forced to flee for her life and leave everything behind.

"She boarded a naval vessel... headed for Germany," her biography said. "The ship was only for women and children, and she was the last person to board."

She was finally reunited with her family once she arrived in Germany.

After she married her husband, Erick, they lived in Northern Germany, but the conditions of the town were poor after the war and the couple wanted a better life for their children, Klaus and Heidi, so they immigrated to the United States.

According to the biography, they ended up in Kings Mountain where their sponsors lived ,and Erick found work at Foote Mineral Company, and Meta worked for Carolina Throwing Company.

After retirement, she traveled, cooked large German meals for friends and family, gardened and spent hours walking every day.

Holly Griffin, activity director at White Oak, said Kopruch is a quiet, sweet woman who still speaks mostly German, although she understands English.

"She loves music," Griffin said. "Anything upbeat. If we have music, she just moves her feet."

Although Kopruch is in a wheelchair now, she was an avid walker, and Griffin said she spent several hours a day walking when she still lived at home.

She said Kopruch's smile radiates joy and makes other people smile.

"Definitely if you live this long, you deserve a big bash," Griffin said. "She had a very, very interesting life coming from Germany, and we're just excited to be able to celebrate with her."

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Kings Mountain woman celebrates 105 years of life