Lawton to celebrate 95 years on Friday

PALMER — A living slice of local history will celebrate her 95th birthday with a party for family and friends at the new senior center on her birthday.

The family of Pat Lawton — loyal Frontiersmen subscriber for 65 years — has organized a potluck in her honor from 6 to 8 p.m., Feb. 1 at the new Palmer senior center — called Mat-Su Senior Services — at 1132 S. Chugach, Palmer.

The Frontiersman ran a feature about her in October 2012, noting then that she holds the distinction of being the newspaper’s longest continuous subscriber.

Pat moved to Palmer with her husband Lloyd Lawton in 1947, and has been active ever since; working at the phone company in its early days and now giving back to the community, visiting people at the senior center every Friday, and reading books to small children at local schools.

Pat and Lloyd had three children, Joe, Ginger and Jeff Lawton. Sons Joe and Jeff Lawton still live in Palmer. The growing family now includes eight grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren, so far.

For more information or to RSVP, contact 982-5317.