A century plus one

Deirdre Newman

Myrtle White never had a birthday party as a child.

Her 101st birthday party made up for that void in spades as family

members and fellow residents of the Seaside Villas residential care

facility showered her with love and attention Tuesday.

“You would think it wouldn’t make any difference, but their

attitudes and the ambience is different when they know people are

here [celebrating],” said White’s daughter, Colleen Gifford, 76.

Mickey Wade, who owns Seaside Villas, threw the party, with help

from live-in caregivers Mila Lacson and Joy Grospe. A birthday banner

adorned one wall and Gerber daises and a yellow tablecloth brightened

the room. Red balloons hovered above White, who was dressed in a red

velvet dress and pearls with a red bow in her hair for the festive

occasion.

White, who is nearly blind and can hardly hear, still has a hearty

appetite, as she dug into the manicotti Wade cooked up.

Her family and friends reminisced about White’s storied life and

swapped anecdotes about some of the amusing things she has said

recently.

White was born in Detroit Lakes, Minn. and grew up in Sanborn,

S.D. She had four brothers and sisters and worked hard on a farm as a

youth. She taught at a country school for a few years before getting

married. She had two children, Gifford and Janet McElroy. She also

has four grandchildren, five great grandchildren -- one is deceased

-- and six great-great grandchildren.

“She was in control, a lovely mother, a caring person and could

always handle herself,” Gifford said.

Her granddaughter, Irene Franks, came to celebrate White’s

birthday from Arizona with her husband, Joe. Franks said she is in

awe of her grandmother exceeding the 100-year milestone.

“It’s just unbelievable,” Franks said. “She’s always been really

special to me. I was her first grandchild.”

While the guests lavished attention on White, she nonchalantly

took it all in.

“She’s really funny,” Wade said. “Like just now, I said, ‘I want

to get a picture of you.’ And she said, ‘Oh no, don’t do that!’ She’s

totally with it.”

White is very self-sufficient, Wade said. She can help feed

herself, pivot in her wheelchair and brush her teeth.

She also is fully capable of letting others know what she needs,

Wade added.

“She’ll tell you what she wants,” Wade said. “She gets her needs

met by being verbal.”

While she never had a yen for smoking or drinking, she has a

penchant for coffee and sunshine, Grospe said.

The party contained the typical musings on the secret of White’s

longevity. Lacson and Grospe ventured a guess.

“She’s very patient,” Lacson said. “That’s probably how she got to

be 101. She’s always looking out for other people.”

“Her fuse is very long,” Grospe added.

After cutting the birthday cake adorned with white frosting and

yellow roses, White opened her presents, which included a pink and

gray scarf.

The lively atmosphere and music inspired one of the residents, Tom

Belote, 81, to get out of his wheelchair and dance with Grospe.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].