Longtime Piute County resident Irva Sudweeks celebrates 105th birthday with family

Written by Jeff Richards
January 31, 2024

CEDAR CITY — Irva Sudweeks celebrated her 105th birthday this past week, marking the occasion on Saturday afternoon with dozens of her descendants and other family members.

Family members gather for a lunchtime celebration of Irva Sudweeks’ 105th birthday, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 27, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Sudweeks is a longtime resident of the tiny Piute County town of Kingston, where she lives with her son Bill Sudweeks and his wife Joyce.

As she was finishing up her salad at Cedar City’s new Second East restaurant, Irva Sudweeks estimated there were at least 150 of her family members present, “maybe even more than that.”

The attendees spanned five generations counting Irva herself. She said they had come from near and far to celebrate, from Nephi to Las Vegas.

Irva added that she usually likes to take a nap right after lunch.

“I’m not going to have one today!” she quipped amid all the excitement.

As Cedar City News captured photos of the occasion, Irva also jokingly asked how many cameras she’d broken by having her picture taken so many times.

Bill Sudweeks noted that the family started having large family gatherings for his mother when she turned 80, meaning they have been having such birthday parties for 25 years now.

Family members gather at Second East restaurant for a lunchtime celebration of Irva Sudweeks’ 105th birthday, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 27, 2024 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

As previously reported, Irva’s 101st birthday gathering took place at Cedar City’s Golden Corral in 2020, a couple months before COVID-19 pandemic began.

Irva has now lived through two worldwide pandemics a century apart, one of her granddaughters noted, with the first one being the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-20.

Irva was born in the now-ghost town of Widtsoe, Garfield County, Utah on Jan. 24, 1919. She and her first husband Bob Brindley had three children before Bob died suddenly in 1946 at age 31. The following year, Irva married Pete Sudweeks, with whom she had one more child. After Irva and Pete spent more than 55 years together, Pete died in 2003 at age 90.

Irva’s progeny now includes 22 grandchildren, 87 great-grandchildren and 53 great-great-grandchildren. 

Saturday’s attendees, who occupied nearby every table in the new restaurant, sang “Happy Birthday” to Irva, after which slices of pink and white cake were served. The families then came up one by one to greet Irva and pose for photos.

“See you next year!” Irva said cheerfully as she waved goodbye to folks as they left.

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons and one granddaughter. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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