Family and friends will privately celebrate the 100th birthday of former Sweet Home businesswoman and teacher Zelma Groves Cardwell, November 19.
Mrs. Cardwell was born on that date in 1903 near Bosworth, Mo. to Jonas and Margaret Groves.
The family moved to the Lebanon area in 1912 where Mr. Groves continued to farm.
Mrs. Cardwell graduated from Lebanon High School and for a year taught school before attending teachers college at Monmouth.
She later transferred to San Jose State College to earn her teaching certificate and taught in Tracee, Calif.
It was while she was teaching in Tracee that Mrs. Cardwell met her future husband, Ed. They married but kept it a secret for some time because in those days, women teachers were not allowed to be married.
In 1939 the Cardwells moved to Sweet Home to be nearer family and they opened the Cardwell Department Store in what is now The New Era newspaper building. They operated that store until the mid-1960s.
Mrs. Cardwell also started the Sweet Home Five and Dime during those years.
The couple had four children, Leland, who died as a child, Steven of Beaverton, Ken of Tumalo and Marge Kikel of Sweet Home.
Mrs. Cardwell enjoyed gardening, especially working with flowers.
Her daughter, Marge, said she most admired her mother’s “adventurous spirit.”
After many years in business, Mrs. Cardwell returned to college at Oregon State University to fine tune her teaching degree and then taught at the Long Street and Pleasant Valley elementary schools.
Her brother, Kenneth, founded the Groves Drug, one of the longest continually operated businesses in the community.