ADA, Minn. — There are birthday parties and there are birthday parties.
Like when your name is Annelee Woodstrom, of Ada, Minnesota.
Woodstrom survived Adolf Hitler’s Germany, fell in love with a U.S. serviceman during the war, moved to Minnesota and taught for decades in Twin Valley.
This weekend, in Ada and in Fargo, family and friends are celebrating her 100th birthday.
“When you think that I once prayed that I would live to be 18, oh God,” Woodstrom said to a gathering of friends at her dining room table Friday, Sept. 18, in Ada.
Woodstrom not only lives on her own at age 100, she still stays connected with the young teachers she mentored years ago. Her years in Germany during World War II are often remembered.
“You have no idea what it was like to sit in the basement and wait for the Allied planes to come in and bomb. And I hope your children or grandchildren never have to experience that. I also lost my hearing because of the bombing,” Woodstrom said.
Woodstrom was a young girl in Catholic school in Germany when Hitler came to power and recruited children her age. Her parents would not allow it.
“Everyone was in the Hitler Youth. My parents would not allow for me to go to the public schools. We went to the Catholic school,” Woodstrom said.
She remembers seeing Allied tanks rolling into her town, war right in front of her young eyes.
“She prayed she would make it to age 18 and here she is, 100,” a friend said during their visit.
“War Child: Growing Up in Adolf Hitler’s Germany” by Annelee Woodstrom is a memoir about her childhood experiences growing up in Germany during World War II.
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Woodstrom would fall in love with a U.S. Army soldier, Kenny, from Minnesota.
As she fondly told WDAY in 2021,
“I just loved the guy for who he was. I didn’t know he was a Lutheran,” a line that gets laughs every time.
The two came back here, finding middle ground in Norman County, where Woodstrom would raise children and teach in Twin Valley for 22 years. She was named Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year in 1984 and authored three award-winning books. Now she is celebrating 100 years of life.
Kenny Woodstrom served in World War II and met Annelee in Germany during the war.
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“The best thing you can do is teach, I loved the students,” Woodstrom said of her long tenure as a teacher.
In Ada on Saturday and at the Jasper in downtown Fargo on Sunday, family and friends will shower Annelee with accolades, marking a century of living and giving. What is her guide?
“When I think back how I lived. Maybe I should have regrets but I don’t. My parents told me to treat other people the way I would want to be treated,” Woodstrom said.
Annelee still remembers breaking down in tears when she arrived in America following the war.
She couldn’t believe milk was delivered in bottles to their home and she could have all the butter she wanted. This after surviving food rationing during the war in Germany.
For more information, visit her website,
Kevin Wallevand has been a reporter at WDAY-TV since 1983. He is a native of Vining, Minnesota in Otter Tail County. His series and documentary work have brought him to Africa, Vietnam, Haiti, Kosovo, South America, Mongolia, Juarez,Mexico and the Middle East. He is an multiple Emmy and national Edward R. Murrow award recipient.
Reach Kevin at kwallevand@wday.com or 701-241-5317