by Len Lear

Betsy Wenzel Marple is a lifelong resident of the Chestnut Hill area who also makes periodic visits to a vacation home in Longboat Key, a town on the central west coast of Florida on a barrier island of the same name, between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Betsy was herself the subject of an article in the Local on June 29, 2006, when she was the oldest graduate in the Chestnut Hill College class of 2006. Betsy was a mother of two adult children when she earned a bachelor’s degree in business communications.

Marple held down a full-time job while going to night school in an accelerated program to get her degree, finishing in two years and nine months. So Betsy obviously knows a good story when she sees one (or is the subject of one). Therefore, I had to pay attention when she contacted me recently and said, “I have a good friend/neighbor down in Longboat Key who is definitely worth an article in any newspaper. She is the most remarkable person I have ever known!”

The neighbor, Regina Gurland, is 101 years old but lives alone and takes care of her own needs without any assistance, does lots of baking for herself and others, has been making beautiful ceramic objects for years, still drives a car and was a world traveler until just two years ago. She was the subject of an article in April of this year in the Mayo Clinic Health Letter, whose headline said she “could write the book on healthy aging.”

“Regina is a lot more active than many people 30 years younger,” said Betsy, one of many admirers who often stop at Regina’s house to visit her. “It’s not, ‘Let’s go see the poor old lady.’ This woman IS the party! I don’t go to see her because she is lonely. I go there because I’m lonely, and she is so much fun to be with!”

So Betsy gave me Regina’s phone number and told her I would be calling her. The first two times I called, she was out and about and did not have a phone machine for me to leave a message on. On my third try, Regina picked up and phone and must have thought I was a serial killer. As soon as I said hello, she barked, “Don’t call here again, or I’ll call the authorities!” and slammed the phone down.

So I solicited Betsy’s assistance, and she called “Reggie,” assured her I was (relatively) harmless and put me on the phone. Regina, who has two sons, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, grew up in Long Island and then Peekskill, New York. She earned a degree in food service at the State University of New York in Delhi in the Catskill Mountains. For years she was a director of school lunch programs around New York State, a civil service job.

In 1972 Regina moved to Florida after concluding “there must be more to life than this.” Since then she has traveled all around the world, made beautiful pottery in a massive kiln, bakes eight loaves of bread at a time with no sugar or fat and gives almost all of them away, etc. “The bread is unbelievable,” said Betsy. “In March we had a party, and the first thing to go was her bread. My sister got the recipe from her but could not duplicate it. No one can!”

Regina also likes to serve wine to friends. “I don't drink the wine myself,” she said, “I have one shot of vodka a day. It may take me an hour and a half to finish that one shot, however. I try to make it last. My dad used to make schnapps. Cops used to knock on his door, not to arrest him but to drink some of his schnapps!”

Only one percent of Americans live to 100, so reporters always ask centenarians what they attribute their longevity to. And I could not help asking also. “First of all,” she replied, “I have good genes. My dad lived to 82 and my mom to 89. And I know how to eat and live healthy. When I was 8 years old, I read a magazine called ‘Physical Culture,’ which was all about eating healthy and exercise, and it still sticks in my mind.”

Regina walks her beloved 3-year-old Shih Tzu, named Et Tu, who is virtually her shadow, at least a half-hour every morning and another 20 minutes or so in the afternoon. “I am always running into interesting people in my walks,” she said. “My dogs have all been rescue dogs. Don't get a puppy mill dog!”

Regina makes clay animals and other objects by hand, which has helped keep her mind sharp. She eats lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and avoids eating processed and red meat. She hosts a happy hour for friends in her home on Sunday nights, and perhaps most importantly of all, “I do whatever I damn please!”