A month from now, Hayes Valley woman Gladys Moore will be turning 106. That's not a typo! Born on October 26, 1908, Moore's lived in San Francisco since the 1960s, when she was lured out here by her son, Reggie, the Chron reports. And to what does she attribute her long life? Hard work, she says.
When Moore first arrived in San Francisco, she worked as a maid in Kentfield before joining her son at the United States Postal Service in 1966. She ties her longevity to her work there, saying that the reason she's lasted as long as she has is because “I worked hard... I worked in the post office, sorting paper.”
But her hard work didn't end at the USPS — after she retired at the age of 65, she continued to volunteer at Lighthouse for the Blind until she was in her nineties. Her nineties!
One of Moore's daughters tells the Chron that, in addition to her work ethic, “She wasn’t a party woman. She didn’t smoke, and she didn’t drink. She went to church a lot and sang in the choir."
Now she lives in a simple Hayes Valley apartment, where she's cared for by her 66-year-old granddaughter. She still gets up every morning at 7:30, dusts her home, washes the dishes, and does all the ironing. And, apparently, she reads the newspaper, as the Chronicle got a shot of her poring over their print product.
In terms of this year's birthday celebration, she says “I don’t have anything planned,” but her two surviving children, 12 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and 24 great-great-grandchildren might beg to differ. If nothing else, her 83-year-old daughter, Sylvia Harris "has a non-refundable airline ticket for her mother’s 106th birthday" and, better yet, "is certain [Gladys] will also make it to 107."