At age 90, LaVerne Bateman was still stitching pictures of women wearing green and blue bonnets, reading detailed biographies about Ronald Reagan, and drinking a small glass of Scotch every night.
But when she reached 100 and beyond, her memory faded and she gave up most of her activities.
Now at 105, she still likes to drink Scotch and water before going to bed at her Danville home, said her only daughter Beverly Doten.
“She’s an amazing woman for her age,” said Doten, 73. “She’s still feisty. She’s always keeping busy.”
“She used to say if you’re not doing anything, you’re idle,” she added.
Contra Costa County has quite a few people who have reached 100 years of age, said Lynn Shoenut Yaney, public information officer at the Human Services Department. But this month LaVerne will turn 106, on the 30th.
Laverne is currently residing at Paraiso Gardens Carehome, a residential care facility for the elderly in Danville. On a recent visit, she was wearing dark pink clothes while looking at photos of Beverly, three granddaughters, and five great grandchildren.
“I enjoyed spending time with my family and friends,” LaVerne said.
And she continues to walk – with the aid of her walker.
“She’s a stubborn yet sweet woman,” said Bernadette O’Shea, owner of Paraiso Gardens Carehome. “It’s usually her way or the highway.”
LaVerne Goff was born in 1899 in Mineral Ridge, Ohio. When she was in her late teens, she visited Berkeley to see relatives. While here, she fell in love with the weather and enjoyed the company of her extended family, said Doten.
LaVerne decided to leave the Midwest and stay on California’s golden coast permanently. Soon, she took a secretarial job at a bank in Albany and met her husband, Gurth Macpherson Bateman, the bank manager, Beverly said.
After a three-year courtship, the two married. And 10 years later, they moved to Berkeley where they had Beverly. Gurth left banking and worked at the Doten Pontiac dealership business while LaVerne went on to work for W.W. Campbell, the president of UC Berkeley during the mid-1900s.
In the 1960s, Gurth died at 62 from heart problems, leaving LaVerne a widow.
“He was a wonderful man,” LaVerne said. “Everybody liked him.”
“I do miss him now,” she added. “I don’t have him anymore.”
Shortly afterward, she moved to Laguna Hills. Then in 1990, she moved to Rossmoor to be near her family in Danville. Last year, she moved to Paraiso Gardens.
In addition to reading and knitting, LaVerne enjoyed wearing nice clothes, playing backgammon and bridge, and cooking, too.
“She makes a heck of a pot roast,” said Jim Doten, Beverly’s husband.
LaVerne was always a staunch Republican and enjoyed not only reading about former U.S. President Bush but his wife Barbara, too. She also kept active by joining social groups such as the Berkeley Women’s and 20th Century clubs and the local parent teachers association.
And she enjoyed dancing.
“I danced a lot,” LaVerne said.
Beverly Doten said LaVerne was very strict as a mother. She recalled that she had to be home at 3:30 p.m. everyday after school or else she would be grounded.
“You didn’t mess with my mother,” Doten said. “She was strict but loving.”
Now, after years of being busy and active, LaVerne often relaxes on soft comfy chairs in her new Danville home or enjoys the comforts of her room full of stuffed bears, dolls, family pictures and decorations she created from needlepoint.
“I think she’s wonderful because she’s so active looking,” said Blanche Homolka, 88, another resident at Paraiso Gardens. “She’s very nice to talk to.”
TIME LINE
1899
LaVerne Goff Bateman is born in Ohio. U.S. acquires American Samoa by treaty with Great Britain and Germany on Dec. 2.
1906
LaVerne starts school in Mineral Ridge, Ohio. San Francisco earthquake leaves 500 dead or missing on April 18.
1917-18
LaVerne moves to Berkeley. U.S. fights in World War I.
1922
LaVerne marries Gurth Macpherson Bateman after three-year courtship. President Harding introduces first radio into the White House.
1932
LaVerne gives birth to daughter Beverly. The Great Depression continues with stock prices in U.S. dropping to about 20 percent of their value in 1929.
1949
LaVerne turns 50. The United States’ first television station, located in Huntington, West Virginia, begins broadcasting.
1974
LaVerne turns 75. President Nixon resigns after the Watergate Scandal.
1990-91
LaVerne moves to Laguna Hills. The Persian Gulf War begins.
1999
LaVerne reaches 100. Computer professionals work hard to deal with expected crises as we reach the new millennium.
2005
LaVerne turns 106!
