Nell Tola (100), Clara Sears (100), Emily Stewart (101), Margaret Blair (99)
By Noreen Santaluce
What are their similarities? Not many.
Clara Sears was born in San Francisco, spent her first seven years on a ranch in Nevada, and then returned to San Francisco to spend a happy childhood. She attended Stanford University to prepare for a career in Nursing, but was persuaded to change to Laboratory Technology. After her graduation, she started her career in that field, married Dr. Adrian Sears and had two sons and a daughter.
After a divorce, she raised her children as a single mother while continuing her career as a Laboratory Technologist. Following her retirement in 1965, she cared for her parents in their last years.
Her philosophy is to go with the changes in your life and cope with whatever comes your way. This is coupled with great sense of humor and an interest in new things.
Nell Tola was born in Oklahoma, moved to Texas where she and her first husband raised cattle on their ranch for 24 years. As a widow, she moved to California where she was remarried for another 24 years and spent 23 years as a Nurse’s Aide.
Her philosophy of life is “Be yourself, be helpful and kind, and be happy and keep your sense of humor. Health wise, she was strong and healthy until reaching 100 when some minor problems have arisen. At her one-hundredth birthday party, Nell stated, “It feels good to have lived to be 100 years old. So many memories and so many changes in the world to enjoy.”
Emily Stewart was born in New York City, completed three years of college there and worked as an Administrative Secretary for a university president and personnel manager of American Machine and Foundry. She was married twice, widowed twice, and raised one daughter.
After moving to California in 1965, she became very active in political circles and fund raising events for various organizations including The Santa Cruz Symphony. This was in addition to serving as secretary to a Dean of San Jose Community College District. She also served as President of a Chapter of Retired Public Employee Association.
She still drives her own car and just renewed her driving license for another 5 years. She attributes her longevity to inheriting good genes and is proud of the fact that she has never gone to the hospital except for the birth of her daughter.
Margaret Blair was born in Los Angeles and her family settled in the Albany area, where Margaret graduated from Samuel Merrett Hospital University in 1938 with a degree in nursing.
While she was pursuing her nursing career in Yreka, California, she was contacted by the Red Cross and joined the Navy in1941. She became Lt Commander NC, USN and served for six years, with several years in Alaska.
In 1948 she moved to Santa Cruz and was working as a nurse at the Dominican Hospital when she was married in 1949 and had five children.
Her reply to the inevitable question, “To what do you attribute your longevity?” was: “Make good choices, be friendly. Keep walking, be happy, and be thankful.” Another factor could be that it runs in the family – her mother lived to be 101 and one of her aunts reached 103.
The brief reports of these 100-year-old women point out their individualities and differences. But, there is one discernible similarity – They all had careers and were not just housewives. In addition, they shared the experience of going through The Great Depression and the dark days of World War II.
In regard to personalities, two common threads that can be observed are a strong sense of humor and a willingness to help others.