But she seems to be taking it in stride.

“Everybody’s more excited about it than me,” Van Hooser said last week while sitting in her room at Tonganoxie Nursing Center.

Van Hooser is set to turn 100 on Sept. 27. Family and friends will gather at the Grinter House in Kansas City, Kan., to celebrate the milestone.

Again, Van Hooser downplayed the event. She said she would be treating it as a big reunion instead of her birthday celebration.

As she talks about the gestures made because of her upcoming birthday, though, her face lights up.

Van Hooser loves the Kansas City Royals, Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas Jayhawks.

KU basketball coach Bill Self sent her a letter.

The Chiefs sent a team yearbook, pocket calendar and other goodies in a shiny red postal package.

Then there was the birthday care package from the Royals.

Van Hooser proudly presented her hat, shirt and James Shields bobblehead, all courtesy of the Royals.

“I’m going to watch them tonight I guess,” Van Hooser, said referring to the playoff contending Royals.

She also has a KU hat, one she won during a Bingo night at Tonganoxie Nursing Center.

“I didn’t get to go to KU, but I love KU and I’ve always loved their basketball,” Van Hooser said.

Van Hooser was born in 1914 in Harrisonville, Mo., but lived much of her life in Kansas City, Kan.

She moved to the nursing center in 2013 to be closer to her daughter and son-in-law, Carol and Dean Garrison of Tonganoxie. Another daughter, Connie Horner, lives in Atlanta and visits often, she said.

She married Richard Van Hooser on Dec. 16, 1933. He died in 1973.

The couple also had two sons, Richard and Gary, both of whom are deceased.

Van Hooser graduated from Wyandotte High School about seven months before marrying her husband. All four children attended the same grade school and junior high as their mother before also graduating from WHS.

Van Hooser said she did odd jobs after high school graduation.

“It was the depression,” she said. “I did little jobs. Maybe work at the dime store, Woolworth’s, or babysit. Stuff like that.”

She then focused on raising her family.

“After I was married, after we had children, my husband wanted me to stay at home and take care of them,” Van Hooser said. “It was hard sometimes, but we made it.

“Those days they didn’t make much money but things were cheaper.”

Her mother also lived down the street for several years. She took care of her mother before she died.

The birthday girl has 12 grandchildren, six boys and six girls. She has more than 29 great-grandchildren and 10 great-great grandchildren with one on the way.

She joined the Immanuel Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kan., at age 7. She still attends the church today.

She said that though her eyesight isn’t as strong these days, she has always loved to read.

Flowers also have been a passion.

“I used to have window sills full of African violets,” Van Hooser said. “My husband made them wider so I could put them in the window.”

Babysitting the grandkids also became a hobby, she said.

Longevity runs in the family. Her mother lived to be 99.

And Van Hooser has been on the go much of her life.

“I drove until I was 91 and then you kind of lose your independence then,” she said.

As for getting ready for the “reunion” with family Sept. 27 at the Grinter House, she said the milestone has just come up on her.

“I never dreamed I would be here this long,” she said. “And I sure didn’t want to outlive my children. It’s terrible to outlive your children. You miss them so.”

Van Hooser, though, has settled into her place at Tonganoxie Nursing Center and looks forward to visits from her daughters and grandchildren — and seeing them later this month.

“I just appreciate it and I hope I can stick it out,” Van Hooser said.