Bernice Steinke laughs as she looks over the dozens of birthday cards she received for her 25th birthday in her St. Paul home Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

It was 100 years ago that Bernice Steinke was born in an ambulance on the way to a St. Paul hospital.

So why is she only turning 25 this week?

She’s a leap day baby.

When your birthday only comes around every four years, it’s pretty special. Especially when you are turning 25 — or 100, depending on how you look at it.

So on Thursday — the anniversary of that ambulance ride — she looked back on her long life from her home in St. Paul.

1924

A photo of Bernice Steinke and her parents, Etta and Dellenter Sparks, from 1928. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

On leap day in 1924, Calvin Coolidge was serving as the 30th U.S. president. Earlier that month, George Gershwin debuted “Rhapsody in Blue,” a jazzy-classical composition that would become the year’s biggest hit. As for prices, a first-class stamp cost 2 cents.

In St. Paul, the Pioneer Press reported that at least five babies were born locally on leap day that year — but only Steinke’s debut was unusual enough to warrant a separate story.

“Child is born as ambulance goes to hospital,” the headline read. “Drivers amazed when they hear wail with four miles to go.”

Born about a block from her home on Kerwin Street on the East Side of St. Paul, the baby was named Etta Bernice Sparks.

Since her mother was also called Etta, the baby went by Bernice — though she was also known as Sparky.

It would be awhile before Bernice could celebrate her first birthday. Over time, she got used to it, celebrating whenever it was most convenient.

“I call them my unbirthdays,” she says of non-leap years.

‘Leap year kids’

Bernice Steinke points to a newspaper photo of herself and other leap day babies celebrating their birthdays in 1936 while in her St. Paul home on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Growing up during the Great Depression and coming of age during World War II, life wasn’t always easy for this St. Paul kid, but she made the best of the novelty of her leap day birth.

Sometimes, it even got her invited to parties like the one a local paper was throwing.

“Dear Friend Editor,” she wrote to the Daily News in 1936. “I think it is very nice of you to give us leap year kids a break like this. My name is Bernice Sparks and I live at 527 N. Western Ave. I will be 12 years old the 29th. And will you please let me know if you are going to have the party in the afternoon or the forenoon? Thank you, Bernice.”

“You’re welcome, Bernice!” the paper replied. “And for your information and the rest of those kiddies who were born Feb. 29, the big Daily News party for leap year children is going to be held at 2 p.m. at the Orpheum theater next Saturday.”

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After graduating from Johnson High School in 1942, she attended college in Mankato before meeting her future husband, Fred Steinke, back here in St. Paul.

They met after the war, as employees at Buckbee-Mears Company, a manufacturer that was located in Lowertown.

“He was a stencil cutter and I was a racker packer,” she says.

Fred and Bernice got married in February 1952 — a leap year. They also bought a house that month and, of course, celebrated her actual birthday on Feb. 29.

“I always joke that Fred arranged it that way so he’d only have to get me one card that month,” she says with a laugh.

Happy times, sad times

A photo of Bernice Steinke with her late husband, Fred Steinke, and their newborn son Alfred in 1953 in front of their St. Paul home. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Bernice still lives in the house on the East Side that she moved into as a newlywed.

This is the place where they raised their four kids — Alfred (now 70), Sylvia (now 69), Kenneth (now 68) and Ruth (now 62). There were happy times here, like holidays and birthdays (and unbirthdays) and accordion dance parties. There were sad times, too: Fred passed away of a heart attack in 1974 when their youngest child was only 12.

To support her family, Bernice returned to work, focusing on the elderly and aging as she first coordinated a home-delivered meals program and eventually worked for the St. Paul Public Housing Agency in a senior high rise.

She’s been retired since 1988, but kept busy with activities like cross-stitching and quilting as well as volunteering at Eastern Heights Lutheran Church on Ruth Street, where she and her husband helped found a school (that their children attended). She also sang in the choir and volunteered both at the church and school for many years. She is still a member today, and it’s where her family will hold a birthday party for her this weekend.

These days, she enjoys talking about her seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren, who range in age from about 9 months to 46 years. One is coming from Canada to attend her party on Saturday.

‘Today, I’m having fun’

Bernice Steinke blows out candles on her 25th birthday cake in her St. Paul home on leap day, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Like any 25-year-old, Steinke has goals: One of them is to go for a ride in a hot-air balloon (if you know someone who can help make this wish come true, let us know).

On Thursday, though, she settled for elevating her feet in her recliner while opening a stack of birthday cards and visiting with her oldest child, Alfred Steinke, and her daughter-in-law, Jeanne Zimmer. She also blew out the candles on a lemon poppyseed Bundt cake that her granddaughter, Erin Buss, made for her.

Of course, she also was interviewed by the Pioneer Press, which seems fitting since we wrote about her 100 years ago. Our chat was interrupted when she got a call from her brother, Bob — he’s 94 years old.

“Happy Birthday!” said Bob.

“Thank you!” she replied.

“100!” he said. “That’s amazing. Wow.”

So how does it feel physically, to be 100 years old?

“Sometimes it doesn’t feel so great,” Steinke said. “But today, I’m having fun.”

Her faith is a comfort, too: Her large-print Bible is within reach of the recliner.

When asked the secret to a long life, her thoughts turn to God.

“It says in the Bible: God gives everyone a purpose when they are born,” she says. “Maybe I haven’t finished mine.”

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