By Simone Wilson
Driving down Grove Street along the western edge of town, past the discrete alleyway that leads to Healdsburg Senior Living, one might never guess that a grand total of five centenarians are housed within its walls—some who grew up here in the 1920s and ’30s.
Three of these centenarians have already hit the 100-year mark, and two more have 100th birthdays coming up soon, this March and April.
Senior-home staffers threw a joint birthday party for the Big Five last Friday afternoon, on the final day of February. They branded it a “centenarian celebration.” The first two birthday girls wheeled into the snug party lounge were Healdsburg natives Marge Lampson and Marge Barnard, who remember attending public school together in Healdsburg.
“Did you hear they graduated in the same class?” one of Lampson’s daughters, Connie Vega, marveled aloud. Four generations of the Lampson family showed up to celebrate their matriarch—including a couple of great-great-grandbabies, who flanked her for a photo shoot.
Lampson never stopped smiling through the hour-long event. “Thank you for all the company, and the audience,” she said to her guests.
The Pie Lady
Centenarian No. 3 soon joined them in the room Friday: Lorraine Ham, a storied Healdsburg piemaker known as “Gram Ham” who moved here in the early 1960s and grand-marshaled the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade through town as recently as three years ago. Ham is also a founder and champion of Healdsburg’s informal pie parade around the Plaza each August.
Going back even further, Ham used to run a bowling alley with her husband downtown, and eventually opened a ceramics studio called Lorraine’s at her home.
Gram Ham is still sharp as a tack. Her life advice for fans: Keep walking.
Ham said she grew up on a farm in Oregon—picking fruit, milking cows and doing a whole lot of walking. When she moved to Healdsburg in 1962, “I was the only one walking in the whole town,” she remembered. “Then John F. Kennedy came along” and launched his fitness and walking campaign, and many of her neighbors joined her. Looking back, she advises: “Just do the walking. And keep a happy outlook.”
Barnard, for her part, worked as a teacher and psychologist in the South Bay for decades. She returned to Healdsburg in 2008 after her father, lifelong Healdsburg resident Barney Barnard, died at age 108. A few years later she published a memoir, called The Barnard Journals: History, Humor and Healdsburg, that has become a favorite among the local-history set.
How did she make it to 100? “By trying, trying and trying,” Barnard said Friday.
These three Healdsburg icons—plus centenarian Alene Lander, an out-of-towner—wore twinkling tiaras and golden “100 and Fabulous” sashes to their joint birthday bash. A few dozen friends, family members, staff and supporters—including three local firefighters—gathered to celebrate their extra-long lives with some sparkling Martinelli’s, paper “100” glasses with zeros for eyeholes, a hearty rendition of “Happy Birthday” and a cake with frosting that said, “Here are 100 cheers to you!”
Fellow senior-home resident Betsy Irwin, 86, said to the centenarians at the party: “Congratulations. And you still have your marbles!” Another resident, 94-year-old Don Hamlow, chimed in: “Look at you! The queens. Hope I get there … I think.”
Centenarian No. 5, a male resident at Healdsburg Senior Living whose name was never spoken, didn’t show up to the party that day—but rumors went around the room that he’s still driving his car around town at 100, and likely doesn’t want anyone to know how old he is.
Checkered Pasts
The home where these five pay to live is owned and operated by a global real-estate and hospitality firm called Pacifica, headquartered in San Diego. The company has earned a checkered reputation here in town since it took over the home on Grove Street circa 2018.
The years that followed were marked by repeated complaints and citations, peaking in 2021 when a resident of the facility’s “skilled nursing unit,” Phyllis Johnson, died in a manner that her surgeon later testified showed “clear reckless neglect” on the part of Healdsburg Senior Living.
Pacifica was forced by federal regulators to close the skilled nursing unit entirely in 2022, and just ended the ordeal last year by settling with Johnson’s family for around $2.5 million.
Now, with the lawsuit behind them, senior-home managers are shooting for a fresh start. The centenarian celebration was part of a push toward more community engagements and events, according to Alex Arabian, the home’s new activities director.
“We are truly trying to be more active in the local community,” Healdsburg Senior Living spokesman Gabriel Davis added via email. The center hosted a meet-and-greet with Healdsburg Mayor Evelyn Mitchell on Tuesday, and is planning more events like a “senior prom” and a “pet fair” in their backyard farm and garden during the next few months.
There were mixed reviews at the 100th birthday party of current conditions at the home. Lampson’s daughters complained of inattentive caregivers—some with bad attitudes—and fees that keep rising each month. Others, like 94-year-old Hamlow and longtime locals George and Carol Demerritt, in their late 80s, said they were satisfied with life at Healdsburg Senior Living.
“It’s fantastic,” Hamlow said. “I’m happy.”
The party helped. “What a nice event, huh?” Carol Demerritt remarked as the room emptied out. “What a nice day.”
