So you think Casper is isolated?

Try living nearly your whole life 60 miles from Casper, 60 miles from Medicine Bow, 60 miles from Rawlins. Oh, and 55 miles from Hanna in the northern Carbon County community of Leo.

John Ronald Kortes lives in the big city of Casper now, and on Wednesday, 80 or so of his closest relatives and friends had a big ol' birthday party for him in the dining room of Life Care Center of Casper.

But this wasn't just any birthday. Kortes turned 100.

And there were no roses or frosting rosettes or girlie curly-cues on the mammoth chocolate cake baked at Smith's Grocery.

"No roses, only wildflowers," said one of the party planners, Kim Kortes, wife of nephew G.G. Kortes. She was so stressed out about the party that she lost her voice and squeaked greetings to all of those who arrived.

Kortes the centenarian never married. The oldest of five siblings, he's the only one left.

So nephew G.G., and his wife, Kim, of the home place; and his three nieces, Nancy Shepperson of Casper, Tina Willis and husband, Dick, of Wheatland and Darlene Herman of Mountain View, are his closest family.

But you wouldn't know it from the cars in the parking lot or the crowd in the dining room.

Friends from Carbon and Natrona counties and other places piled in to greet their friend and former neighbor.

Among those in attendance was Jim House of the National Weather Service, who presented Kortes with a scrapbook.

Kortes is one of six folks in the nation to log at least 70 continuous years of service to the NWS as a "cooperative observer," recording temperatures and moisture daily. G.G. and Kim are now carrying on the family tradition.

As a lifelong rancher - except for working on the construction of Seminoe Dam and at an Indiana shipyard during World War II - the elder Kortes told a Cheyenne television reporter in 2000 why weather was important to him.

"You know how much moisture we get and try to plan," he said.

The weather service honored Kortes in 2000 for his 70 years of service and he continued to serve for three years and five months beyond that.

He moved to Life Care in May of 2004, just after his 96th birthday.

As House was making a brief presentation at the party, Kortes guffawed, "too long ago," and "unbelievable," as he was talking about having the contract Kortes signed in 1930.

Chalsey Kortes, named after grandfather Halsey Kortes, remembers daily visits to her Great-Uncle John's house less than a 1/4 mile away on her way to do morning chores with her dad.

"He loved to bake cookies," she said. "Peanut butter chocolate chip is always what he had and they were good."

In 2000, Kortes said he had no idea why he had been able to live so long and in such reasonable good health.

"I think of the boys and girls I was raised with and damn it, they're all gone," he said then.

On Wednesday, there were plenty of people who are happy he's still here.

Reach Community News Editor Sally Ann Shurmur at (307) 266-0520; sallyann.shurmur@trib.com or see her profile and blog at my.trib.com/Sal/blog