It takes a lot to surprise Jennie Green. A San Francisco resident since 1937, she was here for the 49ers’ first season in 1946. She was here for the Summer of Love in 1967. She was here for the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.
But on April 26, those closest to Green managed to put her into what she herself called a “state of utter confusion” — by taking the 100-year-old to a surprise birthday party that included four generations of her family.
“I was floating most of the time,” said Green, who was an active volunteer in the local Jewish community until age 98 — including a long stint as a well-loved j. volunteer. “It was so lovely to see all my family.”
The get-together, held at the Presidio Golf and Country Club in San Francisco, drew Green’s children and grandchildren from around the country, from Massachusetts to Washington.
Green thought her grandson was picking her up for one of their regular lunches when she noticed he was driving the wrong way. When they arrived at the club, there were around 50 of her friends and relatives waiting with lunch and cake. On each table, a centerpiece held a photo of Jennie in her youth.
It was a celebration of a full life — and a chance for Green’s family to see with their own eyes how healthy and fiercely independent their matriarch still is.
Born Jennie Nadler on April 26, 1911 to a tailor and a homemaker on New York’s Lower East Side, Green grew up in the Bronx. In her mid-20s she took a train to visit a sister in San Francisco who had recently married a man from California.
“I just never went back,” Green said.
The centenarian lives alone in the San Francisco’s Richmond District, in a flat built by her husband, Seymour Green. He died in 1963 from a heart attack the day after John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Although people 25 or even 30 years her junior often move into retirement communities, Jennie scoffs at the notion that it’s impressive for her to still take care of herself. She walks many places, and takes Muni occasionally. She still buys all her own groceries and does all her own cooking.
And as for her diet? Does she have the secret to the fountain of youth?
“No!” she said with a laugh. “I don’t think there’s any such thing. I just eat what I like … and I’ve always liked pretty healthy food, so that’s no problem. But I do eat everything: seafood, Chinese food, anything I feel like. I think I just have good genes.”
She also stays active. For 20 years, she volunteered at Argonne Elementary School. And up until recently, Green was a regular friendly face around the offices at j. — which she still instinctively calls the Jewish Bulletin — answering the phone, helping with mailings and filing clips.
But these days, she’s relaxing a little more.
“I’ll take a long walk in the park, have dinner with my grandson’s family,” she said. “Little things keep me going.”