Sara Zeimer, Pearl’s youngest of five grandchildren, with her “Baba”.

The publicity just keeps piling up for my Mom’s 100th birthday. I had sent a blurb to the Marin IJ about her centennial and their reporter for Greenbrae, Kentfield, and Ross, Mary Enbom, reached out to interview me for this story that appeared on Thursday, September 7, 2017:

Pearl Zeimer just turned 100. The Greenbrae woman stopped driving just two years ago after a fluke accident caused some memory loss.

Her secret to longevity?

“I say there is no secret,” she was quoted saying when she was a spry 98. “I just take good care of myself and eat right. I don’t eat junk food. I don’t get take-out. I cook. I just have a good attitude about life.”

Her son, Gil Zeimer of Tiburon, chalks up his mom’s long life to feistiness and strength, despite weighing 100 pounds most of her life. “One of her brothers survived the Death March of Bataan during World War II and she had to be strong for her parents during those years when they didn’t know if he was dead or alive,” he said.

Eating healthy, reading prolifically and guzzling three glasses of milk a day also helped, he said. “She has the bone density of a 30-year-old.”

She does drink wine, but only a little. In fact, the only time Gil, 68, saw his mom tipsy was about 50 years ago in Palm Springs. Lucille Ball happened to be at the next table.

Pearl said, “Hey Lucy, I think you’re terrific,” Gil recalls. “Ms. Ball just rolled her eyes and looked away.”

The Larkspur City Council proclaimed Aug. 22 Pearl Zeimer Day in honor of her birthday.