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Two local residents prepare to celebrate milestone birthdays
By Jewell Cardwell
Beacon Journal
Published on Saturday, Jul 12, 2008
Geraldine Robinson and Elizabeth Evans truly are a breath of fresh air on a cloudy day.
Not just because both are turning 100 years old next week and hardly look it.
Rather, it's their uncanny ability to embrace change as a challenge, not as a roadblock. Could there be a lesson here for the rest of us?
GERALDINE ROBINSON
She giggles like a teenager.
Dresses with all the panache of a Hollywood glamour girl.
And is as forward thinking of a person as you're ever likely to meet.
Hard to believe that Geraldine ''Gerry'' Robinson will celebrate her 100th birthday Tuesday.
I visited with the retired schoolteacher — who served the profession for 50 years, most of them in the Cuyahoga Falls district — at her apartment in Hudson's Laurel Lake Retirement Community.
Dressed in a contemporary coral pantsuit with a pearl necklace and earrings, Mrs. Robinson was surrounded by friends. Sort of a pre-party, if you will.
She graciously sandwiched me into her busy schedule, which included lunch with her buddies and an afternoon visit to the hair sa
lon. She has a standing, weekly hair appointment; no gray hair for her. And she gets a manicure every two weeks. It's her gift to herself.
Longtime confidants and retired teachers Jeanette Davis of Green and Carol Chamberlain of Cuyahoga Falls; longtime friend and Laurel Lake neighbor Evelyn Armstrong and day-shift caregiver Martha Harris of Akron — who regard Mrs. Robinson as their special gift — say she's a one-of-a-kind personality.
How else would you describe a 95-year-old who still insisted on mowing her Cuyahoga Falls lawn (before moving to Laurel Lake nearly five years ago), and wearing a cashmere sweater and white gloves, no less.
She also painted the ceiling of her garage and basement.
It was really something to see, her pals still marvel.
''She always said she wanted to live in her own home until she was 95 because that's what her mother did,'' Evelyn Armstrong said. ''And she did.''
The former Geraldine High was born July 15, 1908, in Barberton; the youngest of three children.
She attended the University of Akron before graduating from Kent State University.
She met Roy E. Robinson, the man she would later marry, ''in the middle of the street'' when they were college students. They were living across the way from each other at the time.
The couple had no biological children. But as Mrs. Robinson says of her long teaching career — which included a stint as teacher of the physically handicapped and later second grade — ''I took care of other people's children.''
Asked why she favored teaching second grade, Mrs. Robinson replied: ''Because I knew more than they [the students] did. And at 7, they're interested in everything.''
What endeared Mrs. Robinson to her young charges was the many projects she had going to engage their minds. ''I had a grocery store in the classroom,'' she reminisced. ''My husband, who taught woodworking, made the frame . . . That's how the children learned how to make change.''
Another popular classroom project was having her students make vegetable soup with produce from the vegetable fair.
In fact, Mrs. Robinson's attorney, David P. Weimer of Green, was one of her second-grade pupils.
Martha Harris described her client's morning routine: ''She really does remind me of a Hollywood glamour lady. She sleeps late. Then she just like to chill. Then she has breakfast. Chills some more. And feeds the chipmunks . . . She always wants to be just so, with everything matching.''
Mrs. Robinson, who has gone through life without ever boarding an airplane, is an active member of First Methodist Church in Cuyahoga Falls, where she was head of the women's circle and received the ''Outstanding Member'' award.
''She also studies the Bible every morning for about a hour,'' Mrs. Armstrong said.
Her attitude has served her well, Mrs. Davis insisted. ''She always looks on the bright side of everything. When I had problems, she would always say 'It will get better.' It always did.''
''I've had a long and wonderful life,'' Mrs. Robinson acknowledged, adding that she refuses to listen to negative news.
''God really has been good to me!'' she said.
She'll celebrate her big day with family and friends and a few special guests — Laurel Lake residents who have already reached the 100-year-old milestone.
ELIZABETH EVANS
Elizabeth Smart Evans has marched all of her life to the beat of her own drummer.
That she is a few days away from turning 100 doesn't seem to be a good enough reason to change now. So, she's not.
Mrs. Evans, who has been a resident at Akron's Arlington Housing Options plus Elderly Services for almost four years, is a native of Union Springs, Ala. She was born July 16, 1908; one of seven children. All are deceased except for two brothers Dan and Jack Smart; both reside in Akron.
As fate would have it, she and her late husband Ernest Evans, also from Alabama, moved to Ohio when they were little children.
''We met in school [the former Colonial Elementary School in Akron],'' Mrs. Evans reminisced. They went on to attend Akron's Pfeiffer School and Kenmore High School together.
A self-described tomboy ''who was more comfortable wearing my brother Tom's pants than a ruffly dress,'' Elizabeth Evans played basketball ''and football.''
Even though she only stood 5 feet 5 inches tall, she was always a defensive player. ''I was a great dribbler, and I could shoot,'' she said, adding that the 3-point shot didn't exist in her playing days.
She's still very much a critic of the game. ''When I get my Beacon Journal every day, the first thing I read is the sports section,'' she said.
She watches very little television except for sports.
Mrs. Evans — who is in remarkably good health, taking only one pill a day, and sometimes relies on a walker — underwent shoulder replacement surgery 20 years ago. The doctor said it would be good for 20. She recently inquired about having the replacement replaced but was told she didn't need it.
She had an ocular transplant two years ago because her vision impairment was interfering with her ability to read. ''I have to be able to read,'' Mrs. Evans insisted. In addition to the newspaper, she subscribes to eight magazines.
''You're never alone when you have a book,'' Mrs. Evans shared.
MacNolia Cox — her famous cousin — won the Akron District Spelling Bee in 1936, becoming the first African-American to do so; and was a finalist in the National Spelling Bee.
Making sure their six children got a good education was a passion of Mrs. Evans and her husband with whom she celebrated 63 years of marriage before his death. And the children — all professionals — complied.
Jean Elizabeth Cheatham of San Diego is an author and musician (having played with the likes of Count Basie and Dinah Washington) and a retired college professor; Bernice Mans (who is deceased) was a nurse; Gerald Evans (now deceased) was a professional musician in Buffalo; Joanne Grant of Canton is a retired school teacher; Richard Evans of Twinsburg retired as vice president of human resources from Midland Steel Products; and David Evans is employed by Akron Public Schools in student services and security.
Mrs. Evans also has 18 grandchildren (her oldest granddaughter Shirley Wilcher — a Harvard Law School graduate — was deputy assistant secretary of labor in President Clinton's administration) and 20 great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Evans — who worked for a time outside the home, doing day work, in the housekeeping department at Akron City Hospital and as a caterer — is proud of her own political activism. ''I've always been a voter!'' she declared.
Asked about her secret to a long life, Mrs. Evans acknowledged that genetics played a huge role. Her mother — who was a schoolteacher in their native Alabama — lived to be 103 and her grandmother 107. Even so, Mrs. Evans — a petite woman — watches what she eats. ''I can eat anything. But I don't,'' she said forthrightly. ''I've cut out fat meat.''
Interestingly, Elizabeth Evans is the only resident at AHOPES who doesn't have diabetes, noted her family.
Proof positive of how much she is revered at the nursing home, Mrs. Evans serves as one of the building's volunteer marshals. That means, in the event of an emergency, she's in charge of getting herself and six other residents out of the building.
Mrs. Evans also is a member of Akron's Centenary United Methodist Church where she served as president of the Women's Guild and was one of the founders of the church's annual hat show as well as a Girl Scout chapter there. Mrs. Evans shies away from the company of folks who like talking about their ailments.
''Nobody should expect to live painless forever,'' she said knowingly. ''I don't. But I still get up every day and exercise. I even make my own bed because I didn't like the way the aide made it.''
Mrs. Evans will celebrate her special day with family and, predictably, in the company of a good book.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.
Geraldine Robinson and Elizabeth Evans truly are a breath of fresh air on a cloudy day.
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