A century strong

Deirdre Newman

Terry Valanta knows how to party.

On Friday, the day she hit the century mark, she was sipping

brandy, grinning for pictures and making jokes that entertained her

family members.

Valanta, who resides at Silverado Senior Living home in Costa

Mesa, was surrounded by four generations of her family for the

occasion.

She was serenaded by entertainer Sam Parsons, who sang “Happy

Birthday” and “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.”

With her birthday usually overlooked because it falls so close to

Christmas, she was floored by the attention.

“This is unusual, I’ll say,” she said, surveying the scene. “I’m

going to be around for the next [birthday], too.”

Valanta grew up in Boston as one of nine children.

As a young woman, Valanta was ahead of her time -- independent and

single during her 20s, 30s and 40s. She read a lot of books and

newspapers, she said.

“I spent my time reading -- whether it was forbidden or not,” she

said.

She didn’t marry until she was 57.

“I wasn’t looking for marriage,” Valanta said.

Once she was ready for marriage, all she heard from men was “Where

were you 45 years ago?” she said.

She took a Dale Carnegie salesman course while she was working and

still remembers the main points: Attention, interest, desire and

acceptance.

“I still use it,” she said.

Valanta said she never really thought about hitting 100, and she

remained nonchalant about it on her birthday.

“You don’t even think you’re going to live till 100,” she said.

“We weren’t brought up that way, to [even] think about retirement.”

She took the initiative to move herself and her father out to

California in the early 1950s.

When she finally retired and moved into Leisure World, she

immediately took charge of adventure activities for the “Gadabouts,”

chartering buses to take members all over Southern California to

shows and concerts. She ran the club for about 20 years.

“I was young and imaginative and wanted to see the world,” she

said.

She lived independently until she was about 99. Her family moved

her to Silverado because she was falling a lot, said JoAnne Jones,

Valanta’s niece. She suffers from memory impairment and dementia.

Even now, she doesn’t fit the image of a “typical” senior citizen.

For one, she hates card games.

“I was never a card player,” she said. “I think it’s a dumb game.”

She is still sharp enough to remember street names from her

childhood and her house in Boston.

“Now that I’m older, I appreciate what I lived through,” she said.

When it came time to cut the cake, her trademark humor was

apparent. With a knife in one hand, she joked about only cutting out

her name so the “Happy Birthday” part of the icing remained.

“Then we can use the cake again,” she said, smiling.

Amy Harris, Valanta’s grand niece, said she was thrilled to see

Valanta looking so vibrant on her birthday.

“It’s amazing,” Harris said. “She’s a tough lady who made it

through a lot.”