Woodbury woman records birthdays, smiles
Delia Setzer, 99, continues to help children smile across globe.
- Enjoying life at 99
Delia Setzer turned 99 on Monday. It was an exciting affair for the resident of Stonecrest Senior Living as well more than three dozen family members and neighbors came to help her celebrate one year closer to the number that keeps her motivated: 100.
“I like to think the closer I get to 100, the more energy I get,” said Setzer, who was one of the first residents to move into Stonecrest when it was built 11 years ago as part of the City Centre project.
But although she enjoyed counting down the days last week as she awaited her birthday party celebration, Setzer, a native of tiny Strathcona, Minn. (just north of Thief River Falls), said her real motivation as of late is counting beyond the number 100. One hundred nine, to be exact. That’s the number of smiles she’s helped fix since 2007, shortly after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“The doctor told me what it would cost for treatment over the next five years,” Setzer, a former registered nurse, recalled. “I said, ‘I shouldn’t be spending all that money on an old woman who is ready to die when I can save lives that are going to value something.’”
That was shortly after she found out about the Smile Train, an international organization that provides free surgery to children worldwide who were born with a cleft palate and lips.
For each donation Setzer makes to the Smile Train (www.smiletrain.org), she receives a letter and a photo from a child for whom she helped finance the surgery. Doctors from around the globe volunteer with the organization to perform the surgeries for free.
“I was going to stop donating after I reached 100,” Setzer said. “But it’s so much fun to get these letter. So I ended up with 109 babies so far. It’s wonderful.”
Setzer has also received personal letters and recently an invite from the organization’s founder to accompany him on a trip to a remote village in China where several children were to be helped with free surgery from the Smile Train doctors.
“I don’t think they knew how old Delia was when they sent the letter,” said Carol Smith, who has accompanied her aunt on trips she has taken over the last several years, which included a concert in New York City last year, where children who benefited from the Smile Train organization performed in a choir.
Setzer said she understands she wouldn’t be able to make it to China with her current health status. She is content in knowing that there are children around the world who are smiling right along with her.
“These are kids that did nothing wrong, and in some countries they are cursed for the way they are born,” she said. “To do nothing to help them, that would be wrong.”
When asked why other people might enjoy helping the organization, Setzer offered a terse response.
“I never tell anyone to do anything,” she said. “I just tell them about the organization and let them know how good it makes me feel to help.”
At Setzer’s birthday party, many neighbors and friends had much to say about the lively, 99 year old with a sharp memory and bright personality.
Emily Wolterstorff, a fellow Stonecrest resident, summed her friend’s congenial personality.
“You get to know Delia and you quickly realize why she lights up a room so quickly,” Wolterstorff said. “She enjoys life.”
Tags: daily updates, lifestyle, woodbury, health
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