Luise Enlow has seen and experienced many things in her 97 years, including seeing the use of a town crier to deliver messages in place of today’s cell phones.
Bellview Introducing Luise Enlow, a mother of seven, grandmother of eight, great grandmother of 20 with three great-great-grandchildren. Enlow was born in Calden, Germany, on Oct. 10, 1927, and attended school through eighth grade.
Enlow held a job at a small co-op bank before being drafted into the German Army at age 17. She did not want to be in the service because “I didn’t like it at all, I was a teenage girl, and I wanted to be home with my mother,” she said.
What she did enjoy about being in the Army was being around the other girls. While in the military, her time was spent working in a radar unit that operated search lights when the bombers would bomb cities, including Berlin. Enlow worked on the generator for the lights. She would serve in the Army in 1944-45.
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After leaving the military, she wasn’t able to do anything for work, as Germany was destroyed after the war, so Enlow returned back home. She then met an American soldier stationed in Germany. The couple were married for 39 years before his passing in 1987.
She was a volunteer member of the hospital auxiliary at Murphy General Hospital – now Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital – from 1989 to 2004. Hobbies that she enjoys include crocheting, knitting and sewing.
At 97 years old, Enlow has seen many changes along the way that weren’t part of her earlier years. Back then, there were no computers or cell phones to communicate with. If information needed to get out to the people, it was done by a town crier.
“Some things are for the good, and others not so good. When we were children, we played games outside; now they sit with their computers and phones,” Enlow said.
She does believe, however, that these devices do serve a useful purpose, such as when using a cell phone during an emergency.
Enlow has lived in Bellview since 1984 and today lives with her son Elmer. Her favorite color is red, and she enjoys Peoni flowers.
Her advice to young folks is to “be honest, do your job, be good to other people and be generous to others.”
She attends Bellview Community Church and has many friends. Elmer said of his mother, “She’s a very giving person, she thinks a lot about other people. It’s amazing raising seven kids when her husband’s at work all day. I think she did a wonderful job.”