Rancho Cucamonga Senior Community Honors Four Centenarians
Merrill Gardens, a senior community in Rancho Cucamonga, recently honored three residents who turned 100 in 2022 and one who turned 104.
They are Wanda Martin and Harry “Russ” Stickel, both born in May 1922; Doris Waters, born in October 1922; and Peggy Greenberg, born in November 1918.
Wanda Martin, who grew up in Inglewood, has worked as a secretary and enjoyed volunteering as a longtime member of the Entre Nous women’s club of Inglewood, according to a news release.
When asked what the secret to her long life is, she said, “God has never failed me. I love people and I enjoy visiting with my friends here at Merrill Gardens. I think that I have lived long because I always ate right, and I kept moving,” according to the news release.
Harry “Russ” Stickel grew up in New Jersey and moved to Pomona in the mid-1950s. He has lived at Merrill Gardens for more than three years.
Stickel, a U.S. Army veteran, attended Clemson University in South Carolina and worked nearly 30 years in the electrical trade.
He has been an active member of the Pomona Elks and has played tennis and golf. He also supported his children as they participated in sports when they were growing up near Fontana.
He has three children, nine grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
“I am a happy camper,” Stickel said in the news release. “I walk at least a mile a day and I stay social. As a resident ambassador, I enjoy welcoming new residents into what I affectionately call our ‘Miracle Gardens’ community.”
Doris Waters, who grew up in Upland and Ontario, has lived nearly three years at Merrill Gardens.
She was a homemaker and she and her husband owned Waters & Sons Nursery Inc., which was on Holt Boulevard in Ontario. They vacationed to Honolulu, HI.
She and her late husband raised two sons, and she has three grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
“Clean living is the key,” Waters said in the news release. “Keep Christ first in your life. Keep holding hands.”
Peggy Greenberg grew up in Richmond, Va., and moved to California in the 1940s when her husband purchased a winery in Mira Loma (now part of Jurupa Valley). In 1957, she and her husband opened a Holiday Inn in Montclair, according to the news release.
For more than 40 years, she and her family lived in Pomona where they were active members of Temple Beth Israel.
She has been involved with PTA and a local school board and has been an avid golfer and member of three country clubs.
She has lived at Merrill Gardens for more than six months.
“I feel very lucky. I love people and they love me, too,” Greenberg said in the news release. “I have lived honestly, I am good to others and I believe in God. And I have always enjoyed a good round of golf.”
Source: https://www.dailybulletin.com/2022/12/30/rancho-cucamonga-senior-community-honors-four-centenarians/
