Life, it seems, is still good at 100. Elaine Slighte celebrated her 100th year of clean living with more than 80 friends and relatives Saturday, July 16, at the clubhouse in Spring Lakes Mobile Home Park in Scotts Valley.
Her niece, Glenda Lytle of Livermore, orchestrated the festive event, where friends and family shared humorous recollections and other memories from Elaine’s past and recent activities.
Born to Ruth and Leo LeTissier in Portland, Ore., on July 16, 1911, Elaine grew up as an only child. After moving to Oakland in her 20s, she attended Melrose Baptist Church. It was there she met and married Tom Slighte in 1941. He worked for the Oakland Tribune as a printer. During World War II, she worked at the Naval Supply Depot in Alameda. When her husband died, she moved to Scotts Valley to be closer to her brother-in-law and his wife, Ray and Gladys Slighte.
As a young woman, she recalls, she once attended the Billy Graham Crusades and sang in the choir with more than 200 volunteers from churches in the San Francisco and Oakland Bay Area. She also remembers enjoying playing the violin and mandolin in a youth orchestra in her 20s.
When asked how she manages to be so healthy and independent, Elaine replied, “The Lord gives you longevity.”
Her independent spirit, combined with fairly good health, allows her to remain in her own home and keep up her weekly activities.
On Sundays, she can be found boarding the church bus to Felton Bible Church and eating out with friends at one of the local fast-food restaurants.
On Wednesdays, she walks to a prayer meeting at the senior park where she lives, and once a week, you might see her walking to Safeway, pulling a wheeled cart that holds her purchases.
She volunteers with White Cross at her church once a month, where women prepare sewing kits for mothers in Africa so they can sew up the fabrics for their children’s clothing.
Should you encounter this cheery centenarian walking around town, congratulate her and share a good, clean joke, as she has a sharp mind and a great sense of humor.
Barbara Lockwood is a freelance writer from the San Lorenzo Valley.
