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Resident Celebrates 102nd Christmas
By Kelly Garrison
Features Editor
Before she celebrated Christmas around a decorated evergreen tree, Ina DeLapp would unwrap presents with family over breakfast plates.
“We didn’t have a lot,” she says. “I always bought my father a beautiful necktie. I got my mother a gorgeous blouse.”
The Long Beach resident says she has watched renditions of the holiday change over time, but to her, the meaning behind it has remained as a sacred occasion dedicated to observing her Presbyterian values. This year, she commemorates another Christmas, just days after celebrating her 102nd birthday on Dec. 21.
For about three decades now, DeLapp has resided off of Broadway in a quaint apartment brightened by large windows looking out to neighborhoods nearby.
A 4-foot-tall St. Nick statuette faces the living room and dining area, where dolls, sleigh miniatures and wreaths dot aged, ornate furnishings — her live-in caretaker and longtime friend, Ed Stein, says he decorates her home each year.
Decades ago, DeLapp began celebrating holiday traditions with her husband’s family. In earlier years, Christmas had meant family and gifts — but without a tree, since such commodities were rare in her Minnesota hometown, she says.
“My folks lived on a farm, and I’d walk three-and-a-half miles into town,” she says. “That’s one reason why I’m so healthy.”
Later, DeLapp admits another secret to keeping her youthful character.
“I use Dove soap and Ponds for dry skin,” she says.
Stein, sitting across from her in the living room, quickly jumps in.
“I give her lots of fresh fruit, too — a healthy diet,” he says.
And while she remains confined to sitting much of the time, that hasn’t stopped her from traveling around the country and attending special events. An emcee invited her up onstage this past fall during the annual Oktoberfest in Alpine Village, where a crowd crooned for her an early “Happy Birthday.”
“The emcee remembered me and came down and greeted me,” she said. “…He had an elevator for wheelchairs. I had to make a speech.”
She recounted that story in one of 82 holiday letters sent out to loved ones this season. She recently learned to converse with relatives through live online video sessions and e-mail correspondence, but nothing, she said, compares to the lost art of writing by hand.
“There was a time when I was ill and I stopped writing,” she said. “A year ago, I started again.”
That hobby follows a life busied by career moves and family memories. A college graduate, DeLapp began teaching at a one-room grade school in South Dakota before dabbling in modeling for JCPenney and becoming a buyer for the Broadway department store in Los Angeles.
In 1927, she married into an 11-member family. DeLapp said she and her husband had grown up together and knew they were meant for each other. Together, they were among the first to set foot in the local Covenant Presbyterian Church after its completion.
“When he danced with me, he said to me, ‘She’s going to be my wife,’” he said.
He has since passed away, but this holiday — like many — she said, will be busied with visits from her relatives. Memories of the past occupy her home in the form of heirlooms, such as the 97-year-old porcelain-faced doll she holds. It dons a rose-pink shawl she once crocheted by hand. Straightening the garment, she admires the doll for a moment.
“She is beautiful,” she says.
“We didn’t have a lot,” she says. “I always bought my father a beautiful necktie. I got my mother a gorgeous blouse.”
The Long Beach resident says she has watched renditions of the holiday change over time, but to her, the meaning behind it has remained as a sacred occasion dedicated to observing her Presbyterian values. This year, she commemorates another Christmas, just days after celebrating her 102nd birthday on Dec. 21.
For about three decades now, DeLapp has resided off of Broadway in a quaint apartment brightened by large windows looking out to neighborhoods nearby.
A 4-foot-tall St. Nick statuette faces the living room and dining area, where dolls, sleigh miniatures and wreaths dot aged, ornate furnishings — her live-in caretaker and longtime friend, Ed Stein, says he decorates her home each year.
Decades ago, DeLapp began celebrating holiday traditions with her husband’s family. In earlier years, Christmas had meant family and gifts — but without a tree, since such commodities were rare in her Minnesota hometown, she says.
“My folks lived on a farm, and I’d walk three-and-a-half miles into town,” she says. “That’s one reason why I’m so healthy.”
Later, DeLapp admits another secret to keeping her youthful character.
“I use Dove soap and Ponds for dry skin,” she says.
Stein, sitting across from her in the living room, quickly jumps in.
“I give her lots of fresh fruit, too — a healthy diet,” he says.
And while she remains confined to sitting much of the time, that hasn’t stopped her from traveling around the country and attending special events. An emcee invited her up onstage this past fall during the annual Oktoberfest in Alpine Village, where a crowd crooned for her an early “Happy Birthday.”
“The emcee remembered me and came down and greeted me,” she said. “…He had an elevator for wheelchairs. I had to make a speech.”
She recounted that story in one of 82 holiday letters sent out to loved ones this season. She recently learned to converse with relatives through live online video sessions and e-mail correspondence, but nothing, she said, compares to the lost art of writing by hand.
“There was a time when I was ill and I stopped writing,” she said. “A year ago, I started again.”
That hobby follows a life busied by career moves and family memories. A college graduate, DeLapp began teaching at a one-room grade school in South Dakota before dabbling in modeling for JCPenney and becoming a buyer for the Broadway department store in Los Angeles.
In 1927, she married into an 11-member family. DeLapp said she and her husband had grown up together and knew they were meant for each other. Together, they were among the first to set foot in the local Covenant Presbyterian Church after its completion.
“When he danced with me, he said to me, ‘She’s going to be my wife,’” he said.
He has since passed away, but this holiday — like many — she said, will be busied with visits from her relatives. Memories of the past occupy her home in the form of heirlooms, such as the 97-year-old porcelain-faced doll she holds. It dons a rose-pink shawl she once crocheted by hand. Straightening the garment, she admires the doll for a moment.
“She is beautiful,” she says.
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