For the past 20 years, 105-year-old Lillian Krockenberger has lived at Concord place Retirement and Assisted Living Community, in Northlake.
And for each and every one of those years, she's entertained the residents with her lilting soprano voice.
"Edelweiss, edelweiss, you look happy to meet me..." Lillie sung.
Marie Kwidd has been friends with Lillie since when Lillie first came.
"She has the most beautiful voice, really, It gets you," said Marie, "You want to hear it more and more."
Lillie says that singing lifts her up and makes her feel happy
Lillie came to America from Germany in 1921. She was 16 years old. Her parents had both died and she vividly remembers the pain she felt from that loss.
"When I came here was the worst in my life," Lillie said.
Lillie took a job as a maid and caregiver for a wealthy family. Soon after, she met her husband Carl, also from Germany. He was a musician who played piano and French horn. She would often sing with him to entertain at dances.
"My husband was a flirt," Lillie exclaimed and then laughed. She added that "the ladies would come to me and they would say, can I dance with your husband, you can dance with him, but he is my husband."
Over the years, Lillie has slowed down a bit. She's in a wheelchair and on oxygen.
"I got no eye here, that is dark, so I'm legally blind," Lillie said.
Even though she is not able to do things like she used to, one thing she hasn't stop doing- she hasn't stopped singing.
"A voice like hers, you don't find that," Alice Karel, a long time next door neighbor at Concord place, said "And of course she is older now, but still for her age she still has a good sound on tune, on pitch."
Lillie said her secret to longevity is to "grin and bear it and walk with the lord" and "I should say behave myself."
Well, she doesn't always behave herself. Every now and then Lillie feels like living it up a bit, so, she has a beer.
"The girls will take care of her and she'll say, I'm having a bad day, I think I should have a beer. And she drinks a beer and she loves it." Fran Pelegrino, the resident coordinator at Concord place, said.
Fran Pelegrino said she fell in love with Lillie and her voice the minute she met her -- 20 years ago.
"She has a very good voice, even now, when you think what her voice had to have been maybe 40 to 50 years ago, it had to have been beautiful, you know if she can keep such range," Fran said.
"You must have the feeling not from the mouth- you get it from here- the heart," Lillie said of her singing.
"She's so endearing you know, we are family in this building, so everybody is family," Fran said, "So she is very special to all of us."
Lillie Krockenberger, she is one of Chicago's Very Own.
And for each and every one of those years, she's entertained the residents with her lilting soprano voice.
"Edelweiss, edelweiss, you look happy to meet me..." Lillie sung.
Marie Kwidd has been friends with Lillie since when Lillie first came.
"She has the most beautiful voice, really, It gets you," said Marie, "You want to hear it more and more."
Lillie says that singing lifts her up and makes her feel happy
Lillie came to America from Germany in 1921. She was 16 years old. Her parents had both died and she vividly remembers the pain she felt from that loss.
"When I came here was the worst in my life," Lillie said.
Lillie took a job as a maid and caregiver for a wealthy family. Soon after, she met her husband Carl, also from Germany. He was a musician who played piano and French horn. She would often sing with him to entertain at dances.
"My husband was a flirt," Lillie exclaimed and then laughed. She added that "the ladies would come to me and they would say, can I dance with your husband, you can dance with him, but he is my husband."
Over the years, Lillie has slowed down a bit. She's in a wheelchair and on oxygen.
"I got no eye here, that is dark, so I'm legally blind," Lillie said.
Even though she is not able to do things like she used to, one thing she hasn't stop doing- she hasn't stopped singing.
"A voice like hers, you don't find that," Alice Karel, a long time next door neighbor at Concord place, said "And of course she is older now, but still for her age she still has a good sound on tune, on pitch."
Lillie said her secret to longevity is to "grin and bear it and walk with the lord" and "I should say behave myself."
Well, she doesn't always behave herself. Every now and then Lillie feels like living it up a bit, so, she has a beer.
"The girls will take care of her and she'll say, I'm having a bad day, I think I should have a beer. And she drinks a beer and she loves it." Fran Pelegrino, the resident coordinator at Concord place, said.
Fran Pelegrino said she fell in love with Lillie and her voice the minute she met her -- 20 years ago.
"She has a very good voice, even now, when you think what her voice had to have been maybe 40 to 50 years ago, it had to have been beautiful, you know if she can keep such range," Fran said.
"You must have the feeling not from the mouth- you get it from here- the heart," Lillie said of her singing.
"She's so endearing you know, we are family in this building, so everybody is family," Fran said, "So she is very special to all of us."
Lillie Krockenberger, she is one of Chicago's Very Own.
