When Gay Horgen’s family planned to move to America from Heusden, Belgium, her father heard about a ship named the Titanic that was being built and thought they’d wait for that.

But when the Germans took their food in 1911, he decided they couldn’t wait any longer and instead, they came on the Maurentania. Her mother sewed the family’s money into the hems of the girls’ dresses to keep it safe.

Gay, who was born on Sept. 11, 1909, was just a little girl in wooden shoes and the fifth of nine children. One of her brothers, Maurice, died and was buried at sea.

The family originally went to Louisiana, but met up with another family and came to Walnut Grove in Minnesota. Her parents took classes to become citizens.

“The house she lived in is now part of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum,” said her daughter, Carol Smith of Albert Lea.

As a youngster, Gay helped farm with draft horses and played the accordion.

Gay married Henry Johnson, a farmer, and the couple moved around a lot. They quit farming in 1941 and then owned several movie theaters. Gay was the ticket-taker, Henry ran the projectors and their daughters worked in the concession stands.

The family moved to Albert Lea in 1952. They bought the Rex Cafe on the 100 Broadway and Gay was the cook. Over the years, she also worked at the Skyline Restaurant, JC Penney and Ben Franklin.

Smith remembers that her mom was a good seamstress. She made her daughters’ dresses from printed flour sacks. She was a good hunter. One of her favorite photos shows her with a pheasant she’d shot.

“I was as proud as a peacock when I shot that pheasant,” Gay said.

Gay married Pete Horgen in 1967 and they lived in Twin Lakes, where they ran the cafe. She helped form the Twin Lakes Senior Citizens Center. She was active at Lunder Lutheran Church. She and Pete had a big garden, too.

“Pete was not a hunter, but Mom and Pete did a lot of fishing,” Smith said.

Pete’s been gone nearly 20 years. Eventually, she decided it was time to move to Senior Tower, where she lived for about 15 years. She set the tables for the congregate meals that are served there.

A 100th birthday celebration for Gay Horgen will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the dining room at Thorne Crest Retirement Community, 1201 Garfield Ave.

All friends and relatives are welcome.

“I had a lot of good friends there,” she recalled.

Last October, Gay moved to Thorne Crest, where she is a resident in the health care wing.

Smith said whenever a big life change was in store for her mother — moving out of her home, giving up driving and going into the nursing home — she was always a step ahead of the family. She initiated the changes, Smith said.

At age 100, her mother has been — and continues to be — a source of inspiration for her family, Smith said. Gay has 14 children, 46 grandchildren, 71 great-grandchildren and 27 great-great-grandchildren.

“As a mother, she kept tabs on her children,” Smith said.

“I never had any trouble with you kids,” Gay said.

Gay was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 72. Other than that and having her gall bladder and appendix removed, she’s had good health, Smith said.

“She didn’t even take any medication until she was 85,” Smith said.

While Gay said she doesn’t know the secret to long life, her daughter does have a few theories. Hard work and home cooking came to mind. She had a beer every night before moving to Thorne Crest.

“I think the yeast is good for a person,” Gay said.

Her doctor has told her she can have anything she wants, Smith added.

She has always had a good sense of humor and probably most importantly, practiced what she preached to her children.

“What she always taught us was if we had a bad day, we should try to learn something from it, then forget about it,” Smith said.

“She never worries about anything. She takes life as it comes.”

Smith said she considers herself “the lucky one,” because she’s been able to spend a lot of quality time with her mother. She has photos of her mother on the back of her scooter, for one thing. They’ve traveled many miles together, even to Europe, she added.

“We’ve had a lot of fun,” Smith said.