By TR Robertson
Vista resident Betty Haver is very close to turning 106 years of age, as friends and staff of the Arcadia Place Sky Active Living Senior Community celebrated with an early birthday party in their Activities Room. To be precise, on Thursday, April 4th she celebrated her 105 years and 363 days with friends enjoying a birthday cake and her favorite, a cherry pie. Her actual birthday is April 7th, one day further away this year due to leap year. Betty entered the room smiling, hearing applause and cheers from those gathered, assisted by one of her daughters, Nancy, who had been staying with her for several months. Nancy is from Massachusetts and said she decided to fly out to assist her mother when Betty battled pneumonia. The pneumonia is gone, and Nancy said she will be with her for a couple more weeks. Sister Judy, who lives in Rancho Bernardo, is currently overseas on a trip to Australia. Betty has lived at Arcadia Place for the past nine years.
In speaking with Betty, she was born on April 7, 1918, in the small community of Remington, Indiana. She lived on a farm and said her love for cherry pie came from the pies made from the cherries on the cherry trees on the farm. She was happy to hear there would also be ice cream at her party as she also loves ice cream, also from her time on the farm when the family made their own ice cream. She said she remembers one of her favorite things to do was riding her pony, with a friend who lived on a neighboring farm and rode her pony with her. Friends of Betty were anxious to share stories Betty had shared with them about her life. Betty loves basketball and she played basketball in high school. She began driving a car at age 9 and drove until age 99 when an occurrence forced to her no longer drive. Betty met her husband, Tom, at Purdue University where she worked as a secretary. Tom became an engineer and lived to the age of 95.
Betty is an avid Padres fan and has listened to, watched on T.V., and seen an occasional Padres Baseball game since the day they started. One friend said she always knows when the Padres game will be on. Celina Contreras, Vibrant Life Coordinator for Arcadia Place, said one of Betty’s gifts is a Padres t-shirt. When Betty turned 104, Celina said they contacted the Padres about their ardent fan, and she was given a shout-out on the broadcast on her birthday.
Betty said her favorite meal is breakfast. When asked why she said it was because she could eat it in her room and enjoy coffee, rolls, fruit and eggs over easy while reading the paper, especially the sports section. When asked about her secret to approaching the age of 106 she said it was having lots of friends, smiling a lot and having a great family. When asked if there was anything special she would have every day, such as a nip of whiskey, which was once recommended by a gentleman on T.V. when he turned 100, she said no, but daughter Nancy reminded her she used to have an occasional gin and tonic, which she stopped a few years ago.
Betty was an absolute delight to meet and obviously a popular member of the Arcadia Senior community. Her smile is infectious, and she is as sharp as a tack. The Padres are lucky to have fans like Betty. Here’s wishing Betty a most Joyous and Happy 106th Birthday.
