Ocean view never grows old for Edith Whiting, 104, of Santa Cruz

March 28--SANTA CRUZ -- When Edith Whiting saw her photo online blowing out candles on a cake saying "Happy 104th Birthday," she was miffed.

"I look better than that," she said, sitting in a wheelchair in the Victorian-style living room at Sunshine Villa, a renovated mansion turned retirement community overlooking the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.

Wearing earrings and a necklace to match, she smiled a smile that must have caught the eye of the man she married so many years ago, Joseph Ross Whiting, who came from England and worked at the Boardwalk for 45 years.

He died in 1980, but when they were a couple, they operated the shooting gallery in the days when live ammunition was part of the attraction and a sharpshooter could win a $10 bill.

"Most of her business was from Fort Ord," said Norma Holmes, her oldest niece, an artist in Sisters, Oregon, who has kept in touch with her aunt all these years. "Maybe that's why she is so deaf."

Holmes, now in her 70s, helped her aunt celebrate her 100th birthday with a ride on the Boardwalk's carousel.

She calls her aunt "a bit of a gypsy," sharing stories how she went dancing, traveled the West with her satin-lined luggage demonstrating White sewing machines and returned home to Santa Cruz after breaking her ankle but saved up enough money to buy a small house.

"She paid under $5,000," Holmes said.

Prices were different back then.

She would walk to the ocean and back from her cottage on Berkshire Avenue. She loved to eat at Gilda's on the Wharf and watch the ocean at Twin Lakes Beach. She remembered the birthdays of children in the neighborhood and grew orchids on her back porch.

"She always wanted children but she didn't have any," her niece said.

At 94, she passed her last driving test.

She sold her house in 2005 to pay for her move to Sunshine Villa. The little house fetched $600,000, but "Uncle Sam took a big chunk," her niece said.

She sold her motorhome -- "small but she loved it," her niece said -- and she gave away her 20-year-old Thunderbird.

Holmes suggested she move to Oregon, but "she would have no part of leaving her ocean view."

She phoned her aunt every night for seven years. When her aunt's hearing was gone, she got weekly calls from a nurse on staff.

Her aunt thought her assets would be sufficient even paying $6,000 a month.

"I have enough for seven years, I'm sure not going to live to 102," she remembers her saying.

Now, paying the "Measure O" rate -- $3,000 a month for low-income residents -- her funds are dwindling.

"It is not unusual for women more than men to outlive their savings," said Pamela Fugitt-Hetrick of DCD Financial and Insurance Services in Santa Cruz.

She said most financial planning software uses average life expectancy, which for women is about 84.

"That is not adequate for planning," Fugitt-Hetrick said. "Especially if you are healthy and have longevity in the females in your family lineage ... The longer you wait to start saving and plan for your golden years, the fewer options you will have on how to spend them."

Holmes looked at two nursing homes but could not see her aunt living there sharing a room with a view of curtains.

So she turned to technology.

She set up a GoFundMe.com page for her aunt, offering five of her paintings in a drawing to people who donate. In three months, 28 people have given $2,323.

"I'll be there in April," said Holmes. "I hope there would be money to keep it going."

Her aunt might not approve, but being as independent as her aunt, she didn't let that stop her.

HOW TO HELP

What: Artist Norma Holmes is raising money so her aunt, Edith Whiting, can stay at Sunshine Villa in Santa Cruz.

Where: GoFundMe.com/b8dfgbw4.

Tips for planning ahead

Pamela Fugitt-Hetrick, DCD Financial & Insurance Services, Santa Cruz:

--Talk with family members about plans for care; multigenerational homes can be an option.

--Consider long-term care insurance to pay for in-home care or assisted living.

--Invest in life insurance with cash value that can be tapped.

--Work with an estate planning attorney to legally shelter assets from having to be spent first before qualifying for Medi-Cal.

--Look at assisted living facilities that cost less or convalescent care.

Barbara Hanson, Felton, agent specializing in long-term care insurance:

--Plan your home to be handicapped accessible.

--Speak with family about what role they are willing to play when you need assistance.

--Look at a reverse mortgage to generate a stream of income for caregiving expenses as long as you stay in that home.

--Consider an immediate annuity when selling a home to provide a lifetime stream of income even if you need to move to assisted living.

--See if a life insurance policy of $50,000 or more can be used to pay for long-term care.

--Look at a small long-term care policy to buy time to sell assets and homes and create a care plan.

--Attend free SLV caregiver support group, which meets 2 p.m. on second and fourth Thursdays at Highlands Park Senior Center, 8500 Highway 9, Ben Lomond; updates on Facebook.

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