Donald Edison Milliken and his family celebrated his 100th birthday on Jan. 1.

Born in Spokane a century ago, he lived most of his life in the Spokane/Post Falls area. He graduated from Riverside High School in Spokane in 1937 and briefly attended Washington State University.

He was drafted into the Army and was stationed in New York among other places.

He graduated in 1953 from Kinman Business University in Spokane and started work with Burlington Northern Railroad as a weigh master. He retired after 32 years.

He was married to Rozella Milliken for 38 years until her passing in 1999. They had a home and dairy farm in Post Falls that he built and ran while working at the railroad; his shift was from 3 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., at which point he would arrivehome and milk cows at midnight. The milk would later be sold to local folks and he had a lot of customers.

He moved to Buckley about 10 years ago to be closer to family. He is still independent and takes good care of his dog, Wrigley.