Older, wiser about health, more people living to 100

Sep 21, 2009 (The Blade - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- MLHR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Herman Miller, a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday, didn't get his wife an anniversary gift.

It's OK. His wife, Jerry, who is 93, didn't get him anything either.

They celebrated their 72nd anniversary yesterday in Sylvania Township the same way they have for years -- holding hands and simply spending time with each other.

Across the Toledo area, as well as around the country and the globe, more people are living longer. And more people are living to the age where they can have 100 candles on their birthday cakes.

In another residence area of Sunset Village, where the Millers live, 102-year-old Irma Scheller sits in her cozy room, talking about canning tomatoes, sewing clothes, and playing bunco as she shares recollections about her more than 10 decades on Earth.

Several miles away, at Sunset House on Indian Road, four women residents have something in common: All have lived to at least 100. Margaret Bel-

air is 103, Evelyn Carr and Charlotte Krull are 101, and Louise Collins is the youngest of the group at 100.

Last month, Toledoan Mary Maciejewski and her friends got together to celebrate her 105th birthday at the Sylvania Senior Center, where in recent years she has dabbled in ceramics.

Tuesday is National Centenarians Day, and so far, it looks to be a low-keyed unofficial holiday of sorts, but the event alone shows there are enough 100-year-olds in the country to warrant a yearly designation.

And the numbers are going up?

"Oh my gosh, yes," said Lynn Peters Adler, founder of the National Centenarian Awareness Project.

Since 1985, the number of centenarians has more than tripled in the United States, from 25,000 to about 96,000 now, Ms. Peters Adler of Phoenix said. Through the nonprofit awareness project, which recognizes and honors centenarians as role models for the future of aging, she is an advocate for the continued involvement of older people as integral members of society.

Soaring numbers

There's been explosive growth in the number of centenarians and other older people in the United States in recent years, she said. Longevity itself is one of the greatest advances of the 20th century, she added.

"It is common knowledge that Baby Boomers are living longer than any people at any time in history," she said in a phone interview.

Numbers are soaring in part because of medical advances, she said, and in part because of pure demographics: There are more people.

"More people are living and living healthier lives longer," Ms. Peters Adler said.

Each of Ohio's 88 counties was home to at least one centenarian in 2000, and many counties have at least several 100-year-olds.

The fastest-growing segment in the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio's 10-county area is people 85 and older, said Billie Johnson, director of the office on aging, which estimates 166 centenarians live in the region, including 82 in Lucas County. Another 57 centenarians live in Monroe, Lenawee, and Hillsdale counties in Michigan.

That number is based on census estimates of one 100-year-old for every 5,578 people. In 1990, the ratio was one 100-year-old for 6,667 people.

The office on aging has hosted an annual event to honor people whose age is in the triple digits. "It is an increasing population," Ms. Johnson said.

This fall, however, the recognition dinner won't be held because the office on aging is in the midst of a levy campaign, she said.

Working with agencies in the 10-county region, the office on aging is looking to expand services to the older adult population, she said, providing assistance in areas such as in-home health care, nutrition, and general mobility issues.

Making adjustments

Others in the Toledo area are making adjustments as the trend toward living longer gains momentum.

In Monroe County, home to an estimated 42 centenarians, the county's Commission on Aging is developing a blueprint for aging services, said Terri Hamad, director of the Monroe County Commission on Aging.

The blueprint is looking at housing needs, transportation, and social-service issues. Earlier this year, the commission issued a communitywide resource guide to make residents aware of services available.

The average age of Monroe County residents is 42, not "twentysomethings," she said, and as people get older, "the dramatic change in our population from 2000 to 2030 is going to be really noticeable."

Ms. Hamad also is trying to get senior center directors to change their programming and their focus to reflect the growing numbers of centenarians as well as people in their 80s and 90s.

A growing number of centenarians and other older Americans means challenges as well as opportunities. Some people in their 90s are still working, some because they want to stay active and some because they have outlived their money and need a source of income.

Staying active is critical to the mind and body, said Olan Snavely, 96, who plays the piano four nights a week for residents at a Toledo retirement complex where he lives. He still practices the piano in his apartment, and that helps him keep sharp on the 150 songs he has memorized.

It's not surprising people are living longer, he said. "Medical care is much better. That's one reason," he said.

But personal responsibility plays a key role for this musician and his longevity.

"It is important to stay active. Playing piano is my major activity," Mr. Snavely said.

The long view

As people get older, they begin to grasp the concept they can live into their 90s, and to 100 and older, Ms. Peters Adler said.

She tells about a man who remarried at 86 and said he figures he has 14 years ahead of him because he believes he can live to be 100. The concept, she said, is taking root in people's minds: People can and do live to be 100.

Ms. Peters Adler tells people to start taking a longer view of their lives. Stay active as long as possible. If you're in your 80s or 90s or 100s, live a healthy lifestyle.

She also said medical professionals are taking aggressive measures with older patients.

A lot of centenarians, she said, "are living to be 100 even with chronic illness. I think the future holds even more potential."

Consider the 102-year-old Mrs. Scheller, who in recent years survived two bouts of cancer. Because she was doing so well in January, she no longer was eligible for hospice care. Not too many years ago, it would have seemed odd for a 102-year-old to not need hospice care, but that is today's reality.

Mrs. Scheller, who drove until she was 92, figures others can live to be 100 if they follow her recommendation: "You have to live your normal life. That's what I always did. I guess it worked."

Challenging times

Mr. Miller, the centenarian-to-be, said he's not sure why he's lived such a long life. A former employee at a Toledo bank, he's been retired 36 years.

Compatibility has kept his marriage going 72 years, he said. "Love one another and do for them," he said.

Although their marriage is good, growing old can be hard, Mrs. Miller said.

It's a challenge living a life after time has stolen your dancing shoes.

Mrs. Miller, who nearly always wears fashionable dresses and high-heeled shoes to please her man, doesn't do ballroom anymore. She and Mr. Miller, who was an avid gardener, are limited in their activities and often just sit next to each other and pass the hours.

"I can't see. I lost hearing in one ear. I can't watch TV," Mrs. Miller said. "These aren't the golden years. These are rusty, and gold is not supposed to rust. So we sit here and wait for the good Lord to take us."

She reaches out for her husband's hand. "It's all right," she said. "A lot of people are alone, and I have him."

Contact Janet Romaker at:

jromaker@theblade.com or

419-724-6006.

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