Springmeyer to celebrate 104th birthday

Gardnerville rancher Sallie Springmeyer has some short-term memory loss and her hearing isn't what it used to be, but otherwise she's fine - not bad for a Douglas County pioneer who will be 104 on Aug. 22.

Great-granddaughter Wilhelmina Springmeyer, 19, held her hand and spoke directly so she could hear.

"Are you having a good time, Grandma?" she asked.

"I'm doing just that, with all you lovely people here," Sallie Springmeyer said without hesitation.

She spoke from her home, a small brick ranch house south of Gardnerville where she lives with guardian and friend, Bev Troutner.

To the west, Mud Lake harbors many of the birds Springmeyer loves and to the east, neat rows of freshly-cut hay stand ready for the baler.

The home is filled with memorabilia from days past, including a hand-woven basket.

"My husband was very fond of the Indian people and had many friends among them," Springmeyer said. "I think the basket was a tribute, something like that."

She feels she inherited her longevity from her parents and said there was nothing in her life she would have changed.

"It's been an ordinary life," Springmeyer said. "The same as the people of that time."

"Her life has been anything but ordinary," Troutner said.

Born Sally Marie Ruperti Aug. 22, 1903, Springmeyer was one of six children who grew up in a New York brownstone.

"Her mother was English and her father, a German in the import-export business," Troutner said.

She attended The Chapin School on the upper east end of Manhattan, then continued her education at Vassar College in New York, where she concentrated on social services.

She then married, but came to Nevada in 1931 for a divorce.

Attorney George Springmeyer handled the divorce, and the two fell in love and married. After travelling with George to courthouses around the state, Springmeyer decided it "was foolish to go to all these places and not know what was going on."

She attended the University of Southern California Law School where she earned a law degree and joined the Nevada Bar in 1936.

She credits her Bar membership with opening doors for a lifetime of public service, including membership on the State Board of Health under three governors. In 2001, the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada recognized Springmeyer as a Distinguished Nevadan, its highest honor, according to an article in "Nevada Law."

Troutner said Springmeyer did so much more throughout her life.

Even into her 90s, Springmeyer gathered flowers with a friend, divided them into small bouquets and took one bouquet to every patient in each of the local nursing homes.

"She spoke to every resident personally, a real conversation that made them feel special," she said.

The Springmeyers had one child, Sally Springmeyer Zanjani. Wilhelmina, who was raised in part on the ranch, is the daughter attorney Don Springmeyer.

"When she was a little girl, Willy used to walk over in her night gown and stand by Sallie's bed until she woke up," Troutner said.

"Granny" taught her how to weave and work in the garden, Wilhelmina said.

"She provided a safe haven, a fun place for me where I didn't have to share our time together with anyone else," she said. "She had me over for afternoon tea. She really got me used to that."

Troutner is planning a few small gatherings in celebration of Springmeyer's birthday and the public is invited. Those wishing to attend can call her at 265-2455.

• Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.