Everett, Wash. Published: Thursday, March 19, 2009
Milestones
C.L. Miller
Les Miller will celebrate his 100th birthday with a celebration for family and friends from 1 to 4 p.m. March 28 at Northshore Senior Center in Bothell.
Les moved to the Skykomish Valley when he retired from work as a field service engineer with AiResearch Manufacturing. During World War II he helped build the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
In 1972, Les and his wife Dorothy settled on two acres in Startup and began their membership at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Sultan.
Les moved to Sultan in 2000 when Dorothy died. The couple had been married for 68 years. He lives at Monroe Merrill Gardens with his second wife, Lois Carpenter Miller.
Les's family includes 20 grandchildren, 41 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.
Cliff Bromling
Clifford Monroe Bromling will celebrate his 101st birthday with friends and family on March 21 at his assisted living residence in Colfax.
Cliff was born in 1908 in Madison Lake, Minn. He moved to Spokane as a young boy and later attended Whitworth College, where he met and married his college sweetheart, Maxine Alexander.
Cliff and Maxine moved to Everett in 1945 and in 1959 built their dream house on Goat Trail Road in Mukilteo.
Cliff's son, David, also celebrates his birthday on March 21, as did Cliff's father, Edmund Morris Bromling.
One defining moment in Cliff's life was the Depression, which hit before he graduated from college. He says that jobs were hard to get and people had to count pennies. No one could just go to the movies anytime they wanted. He took a job as an inspector for the Department of Social Services. He visited the homes of poor families to make sure they had enough food and warm bedding.
Cliff taught mechanical drawing in Everett schools and was supervisor of Everett School District's Industrial Arts Department when he retired in 1973. He started the driver's education program in Everett and managed the popular youth dance club, the Gulls Nest. He was a beekeeper who sold honey at local flea markets and raised chickens, peacocks and homing pigeons. His roses are still close to his heart.
Cliff says the days come and go and that he feels just as good today as he did yesterday
