Betty Rockwell celebrates 103 years

Julie Reeder and Debbie Ramsey

Betty Mae Rockwell, better known as “Kewpie” was born in 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. She grew up in the small town of Elgin, Illinois. She said her father nicknamed her “Kewpie” as a baby because she looked like the little Kewpie dolls that were sold at the fair.

At some point she worked in the Elgin watch factory and she remembered growing up in a middle class home with modern amenities at the time, including electricity.

She said she met her husband George on a blind date. Vickie Bartlett, her daughter, said, “Mom and Dad met on a blind date set up by a friend o...