The first time Lorraine A. Koons voted in a general election in the 1940s, Franklin D. Roosevelt was seeking his fourth term in office.
“You had to be 21 to vote then; that was my first time,” Koons said during an informal ceremony held by Lebanon County and elected officials on Friday to honor her incredible record.
Since then, the 102-year-old Cleona native who now lives in Annville at the Lebanon Valley Home, has voted in an amazing 81 consecutive general elections.
And she plans to keep her voting tradition alive come May 20 during the primary election.
“I’ll vote by absentee ballot,” Koons, a 1940 Lebanon High School graduate, said.
Her consecutive voting streak became known to Lebanon County election officials when she sent a handwritten letter dated March 15 highlighting two of her proudest lifetime achievements. One is the time she spent helping the World War II cause as a Rosie the Riveter and the other is the right as an American citizen to vote in elections.
“In World War II I was a Rosie the Riveter. I worked at Middletown Air Depot repairing war damaged airplanes and getting them ready for service again,” wrote Koons. “The other thing I am proud of is my voting record. I have voted in every election since I was eligible to vote back in 1943 (sic). Voting was very important to me.”
Koons, who has impeccable penmanship, states in the letter other ways she became involved in elections. “For many years I was a committee-woman and worked at the polls from morning to night bringing in the voters and helping to count the votes at night.”
She writes that she was voted into the Pennsylvania Voters Hall of Fame in 1997. The hall recognizes any voter who has voted in 50 consecutive general elections, according to Sean Drasher, director, Lebanon County Voter Registration/Elections.
The reason Koons sent the letter was to request a replacement certificate that recognizes her voting achievement. Her original certificate, along with a commemorative plate, were lost when she moved. She said it would “make me very happy to be able to read it (the citation) again and to leave it to my next of kin.”
Upon reading the letter, Drasher was more than happy to accommodate her.
During a brief ceremony before family members, residence staff, county and state officials and the assembled press, Drasher presented her with a certificate, a voting blanket, a hat that reads vote, a cake and a homemade birthday card signed by election office staff.
On May 18, two days before the primary election, Koons will celebrate her 103rd birthday. The announcement and presentation of the gifts and voting record cake received applause from the audience.
“We were going to get her a replacement certificate, but the original was in the ‘90s,” Drasher said, with Koons responding specifically, “1997.” “We went and got her a brand new certificate marking that she has been voting for 81 years in a row. So that’s a record for us.”
Rep. Russ Diamond (R-102) said he was happy to be there to help her celebrate her voting record. After noting he had presented her a citation marking her 100th birthday, he observed that the Crocs she was wearing had a miniature Croc on top of one of her shoes. Koons jokingly responded that her croc had had a baby.
“I am happy to bring you yet another citation now, this time not marking your birthday but marking the fact that you had voted 81 straight years,” Diamond said. “This is from the House of Representatives in Harrisburg, signed by the chief clerk, the speaker of the house and myself. So congratulations, and God bless you, Lorraine.”
Concerning her work as a riveter, Koons told LebTown after the ceremony that she used to ride the Victory Line bus that picked up workers and drove them to Middletown. At the airport, she worked on B-17 bombers replacing gas tanks, repairing oxygen and oil systems, and fixing any holes caused by ammunition that damaged the fuselage.
She said all new workers went through a certain rite of passage. One day a mechanic told her to go to the propeller room to get propeller wash. On her way to the storage area, the other mechanics laughed, telling the newbie that the propeller wash was the air that hit the propellers.
She fondly remembers her time as a riveter.
“It was one of the best things I did with my life,” Koons said. “They had a bus line, they called it the Victory Line, and the bus picked me up and brought me home every day. It was like a big yellow school bus.”
When it comes to voting, Koons believes that’s a duty every American citizen should fulfill on Election Day.
“It’s a privilege to vote and it is one of those things every citizen should do,” Koons said, who added that it is “sad” that fewer registered voters cast theirs on some elections.
Drasher said that this election cycle, which is expected to see about 35 percent voter turnout, is a stark contrast to last fall’s presidential election with twice as many casting their ballot.
“This is a really great election cycle that contrasts the problem with voter apathy versus people like Lorraine who come in and vote year in and year out,” Drasher said. “Meanwhile, we had a lot of voters who were so riled up to vote last year, which is great, good, but now we have a chance to vote for local elected officials who make decisions that impact us locally.”
Second cousin Linda Cikovic of Ebenezer said Koons’ voting streak is an inspiration to her.
“I am very proud especially when she says how she researches (the candidates),” Cikovic said. “She reads what she can about them, watches what they say on TV, so that when she does go out and vote, she’s not doing the convenient one or who is the best looking. She knows who she’s voting for.”
