WATERLOO - Thelma Winter knows better than most that you're never too old to learn something new.

Winter turned 100 last month and then enrolled in her first computer class. She had just purchased a computer with the help of niece Linda Vahrenkanp, a retired IBM employee who lives in Colorado.

"For two years I asked for a computer. I think she didn't feel I could handle it," Winter said of her niece. Vahrenkanp finally relented, though, during a recent visit.

"I bought my own computer, but she did all the work of calling different companies," said Winter. "Of course, then we had to go out and buy a desk."

She is learning the basics of computer use in Hawkeye Community College's Senior Tech program, which offers a variety of eight-week classes for people over the age of 50. She attends the class two evenings per week.

Winter is the first 100-year-old to take a class through Senior Tech, which has enrolled more than 500 students in nearly three years. She is also far older than almost anybody else who has enrolled.

"I would guess the average age is between 55 and 60," said Mike Tompkins, assistant program manager. Classes are offered mornings, afternoons and evenings at HCC's Metro Center, 844 W. Fourth St., and Center for Business and Industry, 5330 Nordic Drive, in the Cedar Falls Industrial Park.

Friend Marsha Sewick pointed out the class to Winter and is taking it with her.

"I thought of doing this before, but I didn't want to do it alone," said Sewick.

"We saw it in the paper and I read it and I said, 'Well, I think it's a good chance for me to catch up,'" noted Winter. The willingness to learn is not unusual for the new centenarian.

"I've always been learning something," she said. "Don't sit down for a day, there's always something to do."

"To have the drive to learn something new at 100 years old, that to me is just absolutely incredible," Tompkins said.

"She's a remarkable lady," Sewick said. "We do a lot together since her husband died and my husband died."

"She follows along really well," said instructor JoAnna Nieman. She said Winter has improved a lot in her ability to use a mouse. "She's learning very fast."

Winter has been learning how to send e-mails and enjoys playing games like solitaire at home.

"The solitaire teaches them a lot about how to use the mouse," said Nieman.

Winter hasn't completely mastered the mouse and usually looks in the folder of instructions assembled by her niece when it comes to starting or shutting down the computer. But she is confident in her ability to operate a computer.

"If you can drive a car, you can use a computer," Winter said.

Winter lives on her own. She still owns two cars and occasionally drives, although Sewick is a frequent companion.

She and her husband, Carlton, came to Waterloo from the Quad Cities in 1959 to open a Ben Franklin store on La Porte Road. After opening a second store on Logan Avenue, the couple took the franchise to several other northeast Iowa communities.

Winter's husband wanted to retire in 1985, so they sold the stores. But she wasn't ready to quit and continued working for the new owners another five years. Carlton Winter died almost eight years ago.

It was keeping up with his investments that Winter cites as the primary reason she is learning how to use a computer.

"He was the one who started these investments," she said. "So when he passed away, I had my work cut out for me."

She has enjoyed dealing with brokers and following the investments. She plans on using the computer to more easily look up how her stocks and other investments are doing.

"I love to watch the stocks," said Winter. "They have been awful lately, up and down."

But she may find some other uses for her new computer, too. Winter noted her niece makes travel plans using a computer.

"There is no end to the things you can get into with the computer," she said.

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.