USA: Century-old Napans are Part of Growing Group

NAPA, CALIFORNIA (Napa Valley Register), September 30, 2005: At age 100, Mella Baker and Marguerite Rice have beaten the odds. When they were born in 1904, the average life expectancy was just 47. Today it is more than 77 years for Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, life expectancy is expected to reach 73 this year. Why are people living longer? Napa geriatrician Kenyon Rupnik thinks the basic level of public health, improved nutrition and hygiene has a lot to do with it. "Infections used to be the primary cause of mortality," he said.Treatment of ailments that used to cut life short were also noted by the Napa doctor. "Since I've been in practice, the last 30 years, I've been incredibly impressed by what (the medical community and patients) do in terms of preventative medicine for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart attack and stroke. It's made a huge impact." People aren't just getting older, he said. They are getting older and healthy. Despite longer lives, end-of-life still brings with it medical problems and expenses. Recent studies show dementia still comes with old age. Since more people live longer, more people suffer from the debilitating disease marked by confusion and loss of memory. "There is a tremendous concern and focus on medical expenses (of the aged)," he said. "It's a legitimate concern." First airplanes With age comes frailty, but Mella Baker is not complaining. "I'm in good health," she said from her central Napa home where she lives with her grandson, Ernie. She uses a walker and can't read the numbers on a wall clock, but that hasn't really slowed her down. A lot has changed in her lifetime. As the 20th century turned just four, only eight percent of all American homes had a telephone. There were just 8,000 cars in the nation, and they had only 144 miles of paved roads to travel. The average U.S. worker earned between $200 and $400 a year, but prices were much lower with eggs selling for 14 cents a dozen and coffee just 15 cents a pound. The population of Las Vegas was just 30. Baker said cars and airplanes were "quite a novelty when I was in the first- or second-grade." A family friend owned a car. "He would come over Sundays and take us for a ride. It had no doors on it. No top. Just the windshield." She enjoyed those Sunday country rides, but says she was so short she couldn't see out. Baker was born in Oklahoma when it was still Indian territory. Oklahoma became the 46th state in 1907. She grew up in Morris, Okulgee County, a town that even today is home to barely more than 500 families. They call it "the small town with a big welcome." Her father died of cancer when he was only 45. Her mother lived to 83. Baker says she's not sure why she has lived so long. "I guess I just kept busy," she said. For most of her life, Baker devoted much of her time to family, work and church. Kin to one sister and two brothers, she has five children, 23 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren. At a surprise 100th birthday party she welcomed three great-great-grandchildren to her home. 'Clip clop' When told she had lived more than a half century beyond life expectancy for people born in 1904, Marguerite Rice did a double-take. "Oh, no. I can't believe it," she said. She had, after all, recently celebrated her 100th with a party attended by more than 80 people she called, "My nearest and dearest." Rice was born in a Browns Valley house built by her father in 1892. She attended Browns Valley School. "It was very small then. There were between 19 and 22 (students)." Later, she went to Napa Union High School. Like Baker, she marveled at the changes that have taken place during her lifetime, especially the advent of the automobile. "It started shortly after me," she joked. She recalled the family's first car: a Model T Ford often called a "Tin Lizzy." She was just 12. Powered by a 20 horse power engine, it left the horses in its dust. "When going by horse before, it was clip, clop, clip, clop, clip, clop," she said. Henry Ford's company churned out 15 million of his Model T between 1908 and 1927. Ford's production line was able to build one car every 10 seconds, allowing him to lower the price to $360. He supposedly once said of his car that revolutionized America, "You can paint it any color, so long as its black." In 1916 the Rice family drove their Model T to Yosemite. "It took quite a while," she said. "We had to get out and walk because it wouldn't pull up the grade a couple of times." Another milestone for her family was when electricity was installed in their home in 1912. In 2000, the last official census, there were 50,454 centenarians in the United States, a gain of more than 13,000 from the prior census a decade earlier. The Census Bureau did not have a total of people in Napa County who are over 100. By Pat Stanley Staff Writer NAPA VALLEY REGISTER Copyright 2005 Lee Enterprises