100th birthday is just another day
Becoming a centenarian nothing special for Lee Savasta
Lee Savasta, who turns 100 on Friday, said it’s no big deal.
“Who cares?” she said. “I sure don’t.”
Something else she doesn’t care about, she said, is what day it is. The other afternoon, after she went outside to check on her orchids, she said it was a beautiful afternoon in Redwood City. She doesn’t bother to keep close track of whether it’s a beautiful Friday afternoon or Saturday afternoon.
“What difference does that make?” she said. “You tell me.”
Although her birthday falls on St. Patrick’s Day, Savasta’s claim to public
fame is connected to what used to be called Columbus Day. In 1933, as a 16-year-old, she was chosen to portray Queen Isabella in the annual Columbus Day parade in San Francisco. She is the oldest surviving Queen Isabella, she said.
That does mean something. In the 1930s, Columbus Day was a big thing, not something to apologize for. Savasta is all in favor of Indigenous People, but poor Christopher Columbus, she said, was just doing his job.
“There’s too much politics about Columbus Day,” she said. “There’s too much politics about everything.”
Savasta remembers putting on the Queen Isabella costume, climbing into a fancy car, riding from City Hall to North Beach and waving, waving, waving. That’s the same thing that real queens do, she said, although they have to do it for longer than one day.
“Queen Isabella gave Columbus all the money,” Savasta said. “She was important, too. Just like him. If she hadn’t, I don’t know what Columbus would have done.”
Savasta was born in the small town of Zayante in the Santa Cruz Mountains, attended a one-room school and got around on horseback. The only person in town with a car was the doctor, who had a Model T Ford that she wasn’t giving rides in.
As a young girl, Savasta moved with her family to San Francisco, attended Garfield Elementary and Commerce High schools and caught the eye of the Columbus Day Committee.
After her regal duties, she got a job at the Emporium department store, selling women’s hats.
“You can tell a lot about a woman from her hat,” she said. “People don’t wear them anymore. Because of hairdos, I suppose. Things change so much. I’m sorry about that. The way people dress today, it’s not the same. People get married in tennis shoes. I’ve seen it. My goodness, there’s a time and a place for everything, but that isn’t the time for tennis shoes.”
For a while, she worked as a secretary for her husband, Thomas Savasta, at his electrical supply warehouse. Four years of that was plenty. She quit and went home. Perhaps not being his secretary was a secret to their joyful 63-year marriage. Thomas died in 2001, and Lee has been living alone in their Redwood Shores condominium along a small canal ever since.
Her days are full. Most days she goes out. Sometimes she goes out for a meal. Sometimes she goes out to have her hair done or to see friends, although on Friday all those friends and relatives are coming by her house for cake. She also reads mysteries and rarely watches TV, more keys to longevity.
“Too many commercials,” she said. “When the commercials start, I go in the kitchen to fix myself an ice cream sundae. That takes a while. When I come back, the commercials are still on.”
In the evening she eats the health food that has helped her live for a century.
Steak, she said. Pork chops. Spaghetti. And a glass of wine, with friends.
“Healthy food like that,” she said.
Living to 100, she said, is nothing remarkable these days. A lot of people are doing it. She’s just one of them. It’s what happens if you keep living after 99.
“Who cares?” she said. “I don’t think it’s anything special. Enjoying yourself is special.”
“Who cares? I don’t think it’s anything special. Enjoying yourself is special.” Lee Savasta