WEST ALEXANDRIA — 100-year-old Jane Fahrenholz was named the West Alexandria Citizen of the Year during the opening ceremonies of the West Alexandria Oktoberfest on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Mayor Carol Lunsford also designated, Oct. 10, 2015 as “Jane Fahrenholz Day” throughout the village to recognize the resident for over a century of life.
“It is a privilege to know Jane Fahrenholz, and have her as a member of village,” Lunsford said while declaring the day Jane Fahrenholz Day.
According to her family, Fahrenholz was born in 1915 as Jane Miller and spent her early years living in Plain City, and Hilliard, Ohio.
She graduated from West High School and then went on to take secretarial classes at Franklin University before working for the J and K Shoe Company.
While working for the company, Fahrenholz played for the basketball and softball teams as she had done while attending high school.
Jane met physics teacher and football coach Bill Fahrenholz and soon married him. They quickly began their family having two children, Mike and Nancy.
During World War II the young family moved to Salinas, California where Fahrenholz helped work the base signal at the Air Force base.
After returning to Hilliard, Fahrenholz moved to West Alexandria in 1950 where she began working for the Prosecuting Attorney’s office.
Jane and her husband were active in playing tennis with neighbors and friends, supporting high school sports, and helping raise money for the West Alexandria public swimming pool.
Jane and her husband also spent time traveling. The pair went to conventions in New York City, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
She is also a member of the Salem Lutheran Church and the American Legion Auxiliary.
At age 94, Fahrenholz played her final round of golf, a sport from which she has since retired.
Fahrenholz celebrated her 100th birthday this February, with her two children, three grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
“It’s special to be honored and remembered by the village in this way,” Fahrenholz said of the town in which she spent the last 60 years.