By BEN KLEINE

Staff writer

Amelia Vinduska’s relentless nature and her faith have helped her reach her 104th birthday, which she celebrated with 50 others Saturday at St. Luke Living Center.

She attributes her long life to staying away from indulgences. She doesn’t smoke or drink alcohol. She worked hard and walks and prays often.

Ken Vinduska, her son, said God and prayer are the most important things in Amelia Vinduska’s life, but that it is her relentlessness that has allowed her to live to 104.

“If she wanted something done,” Ken Vinduska said, “she’d stick to it until she got it done.”

He evoked the imagery of a daughter pulling on her father’s coattails to get what she wants to describe Amelia Vinduska’s religious philosophy.

“When you pray, God answers your prayers every time,” Ken Vinduska said. “He says yes or no or not now. For her, it’s most often yes.”

Amelia Vinduska moved to St. Luke Living Center in October 2003 after living in Pilsen since 1920.

She had four children. Margie Stroda, 80, of Ramona; Harold “Bud” Vinduska, 76, of Florence; and Ken Vinduska, 65, of Marion are her living children. A daughter, Sylvia Moravec, died in 2002.

Amelia’s family and friends were represented at her party on Saturday.

“It was a good party,” Vinduska said. “So many people came, some people I haven’t seen for a long time.”

Ken Vinduska said she has received 83 birthday cards.

“She likes cards, one of the things she appreciates,” Ken Vinduska said. “I finished reading them for her.”

Amelia said she would like to live to be 110. Next year, her family plans to hold a much bigger party for her 105th birthday.

To keep her mind sharp, she reads.

“Anything I can get a hold of,” she said.

If the sharpness of her mind is any indication, she may not have any problem reaching 110.

“She’s sharper than I am most of the time,” Ken Vinduska said. “She remembers things I don’t remember.”