Over 100 and liking the view

Three residents of Avamere at Bethany have reached that milestone, and they share their thoughts on living so long

By Christina Lent

The Times, Oct 15, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

From top, Helen Holsman, 102, Ralph Kaufman, 101, and Margaret Higgins, 103, have all reached the centenarian milestone in Bethany.

Jaime Valdez / The Times

There just may be a fountain of youth at the Avamere at Bethany senior community because centenarians keep springing up.

Ralph Kaufman is the youngest of the community’s three centenarians at 101.

He will catch up to 102-year-old Helen Holsman on his Halloween birthday.

Margaret Higgins has them both beat at 103.

So what’s their secret to a long life?

All of them have their own ideas.

‘An old man’

Don’t let Kaufman fool you when he quips, “a wild woman, a good drink and good times.” Before you can start celebrating, he’ll come clean pretty quickly.

“That’s a bunch of BS,” Kaufman admitted. “What the hell would I do with a woman now if I caught her? I’m an old man.”

An old man who deeply loved his wife Solveig and was often caught stealing kisses from her in the courtyard of the Avamere community.

“We celebrated our 70th wedding anniversary,” he recalled. “Six days after that, she was gone. She was a dear lady.

“We enjoyed one another, not only sexually, but in every way. Things just seemed to fit with us.”

They traveled the world together and enjoyed many grand adventures, he said.

And, Kaufman would go to any length to please his bride – even follow a pregnant Solveig’s desire to pack up their home in Mott, N.D., and relocate to Portland in the 1930s.

“I left my pregnant wife and hitchhiked into Portland and hit every machine shop looking for a job,” Kaufman said. “She saw a picture of Mount Hood in a geography book and decided this was where she wanted to live.”

In addition to being a romantic, Kaufman is “an old man” with pretty contemporary ideas.

His high-tech walker sports an “I support President Obama” sticker.

When asked what he thought of the nation’s first African-American president, he didn’t hesitate in speaking his mind.

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