She and her first husband were stationed on Guam about 1959 or '60 when a huge typhoon swept the Pacific island nation. Her husband was at the tail end of his 21-year career in the Air Force and had been called away the night of the storm by his squadron leader.

Left alone in base housing, his curious wife, upon hearing the cries of 200-mph winds, opened the window louvers rather than shut them tight like the other Air Force families did.

"I wanted to take a look," Wise said.

At the peak of the storm, she heard things go "boom" and "bang" all around, and by the morning, "everything was scattered."

She maintains that because she left the louvers open, her home didn't sustain as much damage as the others on the base.

Wise grew up in Muscatine. After her first husband died following 52 years of marriage, she married again and settled in Freeport, Ill. Her second husband died after they had been married for 16 years.

Still plenty sharp and able to drive herself around, Wise realized nevertheless that she needed the care provided by an assisted-living facility and moved into Petersen Commons on the former Marycrest University campus a year ago.