Descendant of Mormon Battalion captain celebrates 107th

BOUNTIFUL — When you meet a centenarian, you feel like congratulations and wishes for more happy birthdays are in order. Such was the case Wednesday when Irene Leishman celebrated her 107th birthday.

But after so many birthdays, the next one doesn't leave much to be desired.

"I don't know if I want to live another year," Leishman said, eliciting laughter from her granddaughters.

They laugh because they know their grandmother is so healthy, she'll likely live another year.

She's rarely sick, having suffered from whooping cough once when she was younger and a bout of tetanus in the 1930s.

Her granddaughters expect her to continue passing the time visiting nieces and nephews, going to church, taking drives with them, listening to books on tape and watching the cars go by her apartment as best she can.

You see, Leishman's sight is nearly gone, and her hearing suffers, too.

But her mind is crisp, and she recalls some of the various trips she has taken with family members over past decades: the Mediterranean, Europe, the Panama Canal.

Leishman is a granddaughter of Mormon Battalion Capt. James Brown, who commanded C Company and later founded Ogden.

Brown had 13 wives and 28 children, but Leishman said she has few memories of Brown because she was so young.

She remembers going to his home for parties, and said she was always afraid of him because he used to scare her.

"He'd kill a pig and bring the head in and scare me," Leishman says. "And I would crawl under the bed. Wasn't that awful?"

She remembers her first car was a Ford in the early 1920s. Which one?

"The only Ford," she said.

That would be a Model T, which Leishman's husband needed as a traveling shoe salesman for United States Rubber Co.

And her husband, James, is one of the reasons the next birthday isn't very appealing. He died in 1970, meaning the two have been apart for 37 years.

So when Irene Leishman says, "I don't like to be 107," she's serious.

But she recognizes she's led a blessed life with opportunities for world travel and few illnesses.