When Elsie Rich’s husband died, she took up exercise. Today she continues to head to a nearby recreation center four times a week and attends workout classes. Not bad for someone celebrating her 100th birthday on Aug. 6.
“I am thankful I can take care of myself,” Rich said. “And I still have my marbles together.”
Despite the hardships she’s faced over the years, Rich continues to maintain her optimism. She was born Elsa Schiffman in Austria in 1901. She worked for years in her family’s textile factory, both in the office and at the machines.
In 1932, she met and married Henry Reich. Six years later, they applied for visas so they could leave Vienna. The two had begun to sense that Austria was becoming a dangerous place for Jews. Just as Hitler was invading, they were granted their visas and were able to leave.
“I didn’t even look back,” she said. “I was scared to get out.”
The two of them arrived in the United States in August 1938. They changed their last name from Reich to Rich and lived in New York for five years, where Elsie worked with textiles and Henry held a job in a metal factory.
In 1943, the couple drove across the country, planning to move to Los Angeles. On the way, they decided to stop and visit a friend in Santa Rosa. They never left.
“It was the best decision we ever made,” Rich says.
They both got jobs in a local factory. After a while, they heard that a small chicken farm with a three-bedroom house was for sale.
“Overnight I became a chicken raiser,” Rich remembers. “I never thought I could be a country woman. I had always lived in the city.”
She says that the best thing about the farm was the commute.
“In New York, I had to take the buses. Since I’m rather small, [people] would push me and I could hardly breathe. On the farm, home was a few steps away,” she said, laughing.
Rich also became one of the first members of Congregation Beth Ami, which she still attends.
“It was a small Jewish community back then. Now the Jewish community has grown, just like the state.”
A charter member of the Santa Rosa chapter of Hadassah, she remembers when the synagogue moved to Orchard Street in Santa Rosa in order to accommodate more people. This year, it is time for the congregation to remember her.
Rich is the oldest member of Beth Ami and on Saturday, Aug. 4, the congregation is helping her celebrate her big birthday. Members say they are proud to have her as part of their community and also as part of their history. They have found her a delightful and inspiring member of the congregation, not to mention a role model with a positive attitude.
Rich has family members flying in from all over the country. Nephews from New York and Georgia and a sister-in-law from New Jersey are coming for the party. She is the middle child out of five but is the only one still living.
She remembers fleeing Europe and says that she would have died if it weren’t for her husband. Today she continues to appreciate what she has.
“I am very lucky that everything goes my way,” she said triumphantly.
Her husband died in 1976 and since then she has done everything she can to keep her body and mind in shape.
She plays Scrabble with her neighbor almost every night. She reads Belva Plain and Danielle Steel novels.
Rich can’t figure out why she’s been blessed with such a long life. She thanks her family for her good genes but says that she never did anything out of the ordinary.
“I live normal, never smoke, but I can’t say that I never drink,” she said, recalling the champagne she had on her 60th wedding anniversary.
Rich claims to eat normally, too. “I eat more vegetables than meat, but I enjoy fish and chicken,” she said, as though admitting a guilty pleasure.
“I worked all my life, and all that time active helped a lot.”
But most of all, she is proud of how she has kept up her physical health when others her age might be taking it easy.
“Up until 10 years ago, I could do the splits,” she said with pride. “I am very agile and flexible.”
Rich has also won blue ribbons two years in a row for being the oldest person to attend the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa. The ribbons hang on her kitchen wall for all to see.
The one thing she doesn’t seem to be proud of is her cleaning abilities. She lives alone in a co-op and keeps house by herself.
“But I’m always behind in my work,” she said, claiming that part of the blame goes to her slower pace.
While everyone is making a big deal about her upcoming birthday, it is hard for Rich to accept her true age.
“I have to remind myself: Watch out, you’re 100.”