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1st appeared
7 October
1999 Partying and Reflecting at 100 Turning 100 was no big deal to Marion Cowan.
Perhaps he was acting humble, using his many years of theater experience to hide his giddiness. Maybe, he just expects to have many more birthdays. Cowan is remarkable, say the health care workers and community volunteers who have grown close to him over the years. The September 4 birthday party that they threw for him was significant, not only because of the milestone in longevity, but because it was held at Cowan’s home of more than 30 years. Cowan, who has no living family members, tolerates the frailty that comes with being a centenarian. Most people in his situation and condition could not remain at home. The native San Franciscan, however, loves being around his mementos, plants and piano, and gazing at the ocean from the large window, which he had specially constructed years ago. He and his friends, including his large network of caretakers, have worked hard to keep him where he is happiest. From stagehand to actor to composer, Cowan was a member of the theater since he was a kid in the 1920s. Up until only a few years ago, he worked at home writing songs and plays. When he started to suffer hand tremors and could not jot down his thoughts, he dictated them to someone who could. "Marion is fiercely independent," says Gerri Collins-Bride, a UCSF nurse practitioner and his primary care provider for the past 18 years. Feisty may be another description. "I’m convinced that his spirit, independence and will to be productive have contributed to his longevity." Cowan is her first ever 100-year-old patient. "I’m not as spry as I used to be," says Cowan, who can walk short distances, but not the three flights of stairs to his apartment. And he admits his memory sometimes fails him. Still, he can recall his early theater days and his 12 years in New York, when he worked for the renowned playwright and producer David Belasco and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert and others who started their careers on Broadway. A career in theater took him to Los Angeles, Paris and London, but he always returned to this hometown. Of course, his most vivid memories are of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. He and his mother lived in Oakland at the time, and after the early morning quake rocked them out of their sleep, they headed across the Bay by ferry to rescue his grandmother, who lived at the corner Franklin and Eddy streets. "We had no idea whether she was alive," he recalls. They walked from the Ferry Building, through Chinatown and Nob Hill, until they located his grandmother, who was safe. His mother convinced a horse-and-buggy driver to take the three of them back to the ferry, which returned them to Oakland. Their home served as a refuge for some 20 friends, all of whom had escaped the city, and for the next three days, they watched San Francisco burn. "Even at night, the sky was red. The city was on fire." But he would also witness the city’s rebirth and growth. In years to come, he would make hundreds of trips across the Bay -- by car after the construction of the Bay Bridge, and eventually by BART. He is a San Francisco historian for his much younger and fascinated friends. "I remember when this place was nothing but sand dunes up to what’s now 19th Avenue," he says. Collins-Bride, who is also a faculty member in the UCSF School of Nursing’s department of community health systems, cares for Cowan in what now is considered the old-fashioned way. She makes house calls. Cowan, who never smoked and eats regular healthy meals, only comes to the UCSF Medical Center, part of UCSF Stanford Health Care, when tests or other procedures are required. Laura Fleming, a social worker in general internal medicine for UCSF Stanford Health Care, has overseen his care for the last 12 years. She not only organized the birthday party, but she has linked him to the many community people who attend to Cowan at his home. Lisa Jaworowski, a nurse case manager at the UCSF-affiliated Goldman Institute on Aging at Mount Zion, a multi-purpose senior services program, also keeps track of Cowan’s care. The Institute also sends companions to his home. Roy Miller of In-Home Supportive Services assists Cowan every day for four hours, "Meals on Wheels" delivers dinner, and "Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly" also sends company his way. "They are all remarkable people," says Cowan. "I just go ahead living happily." His friends help make sure of that. Links: Source: Andy Evangelista |
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DAYBREAK | ARCHIVES | CALENDAR
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He
appreciated the celebrations -- one at the UCSF Medical Center and another
at his San Francisco apartment -- but he wondered about all the fuss.
One-hundred years old -- "is that so extraordinary?" he asked.