Family and friends gathered last week to celebrate the 100th birthday of one longstanding Elgin resident.Elgin Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center packed its party hall Aug. 1 in honor of La-Verne Owens and her century spent in Elgin.Owens was born in 1924 to Edwin and Hulda Lundgren, owners and operators of the old Elgin Cotton Oil Mill.Along with her husband Edward, Owens spent her childhood in Elgin and graduated from Elgin High School in 1940. She attended Seton University and earned her degree in nursing.Edward was a WWII Navy veteran and would go on to become a petroleum engineer, traveling ...