Stanislaus County centenarians share their lives, memories and secrets to longevity

Hal Conkey, 100, whose birthday is a day before the presidential inauguration, said he’s sticking around to see who the next president will be.

A history buff, he maintains a dataset on all the U.S. presidents and said the first one he voted for was Harry Truman. Not only does he share a birth year with President Jimmy Carter, but he has also been mistaken for him in the past.

“I’m in better shape than he is,” Conkey quipped.

As President Carter reached his 100th trip around the sun on Oct. 1, Conkey is among Stanislaus County centenarians who also have lived a century of history and change. Here’s a look at their lives and reflections.

Frieda Lansdowne, who reached the century mark on Nov. 25, joked that 20 years ago would have been a better time to chat, but she was happy to talk about her life experiences.

Raised in Lodi, Lansdowne joined the Navy straight out of high school. Due to her German heritage, she had to undergo an investigation before being admitted. Her paternal grandparents had emigrated from Germany to work in Russia before ultimately settling in the United States.

In the Navy, she was assigned to the medical corps, a role that had her caring for soldiers returning from World War II, many of them amputees. She recalled lighting cigarettes for men who had lost their arms and meeting a man who had lost all four limbs. After being fitted with artificial limbs, she said he stood over 6 feet tall.

“We all cried,” she said.

It was during her time in the medical ward that she met a patient her own age at Mare Island Navy Hospital. The two fell in love and later married, raising two children, Calvin and Diane.

“I know that I can look back at my life, and I guess I got good principles from my ancestors because I couldn’t have had a better life.”

Lansdowne and her husband, Fred, shared a love for travel, exploring the country in their motorhome. Together, they ventured to every state, plus Canada and Mexico.

These days, she enjoys taking walks outside her senior living complex. She was thrilled when the Olympics were on TV, especially enjoying the swimming events, even though she never learned to swim herself.

When asked about the secret to her longevity, Lansdowne credited it to “no cigarettes and very little liquor.”

Conkey’s work in Air Force laid foundation for career

Also a veteran, Conkey learned to fly with the Air Force during the Korean War while stationed in Iowa. His military journey took him to Bangor, Maine, where he worked in a dental laboratory.

“I served in the Far East: Bangor, Maine,” Conkey joked.

One of his proudest achievements was creating dentures for a 12-year-old girl whose teeth had been removed. He meticulously studied the teeth of other kids to ensure her new smile would help her fit in.

When she got her dentures, she told him she finally felt normal.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in that room,” he said.

In 1959, Conkey moved to Modesto to establish a dental lab, where he specialized in creating crowns and bridges. His artistic skills honed through dental work later translated into a knack for jewelry-making. Every piece his wife, Lucy, wears —including her wedding ring — was crafted by him.

He and Lucy have been married for 58 years, having entered their union as a widower and a widow. They sold their respective homes and designed a new one together in Modesto, where they still reside. He also said he used to party with actress Carol Channing, who lived nearby .

The Conkeys have three children and six grandchildren, though they are still awaiting their first great-grandchild.

“If it wasn’t for her, I’d be in bad shape,” Conkey said about his wife.

Surprised at his milestone of 100 years, he said he’s the only family member of his generation who’s still living.

“It’s not anything to brag about,” he said.

A century of adventure

Theresa Jones, now a resident of Casa de Modesto, said the greatest highlight of her 100 years has been traveling.

Jones, who turned 100 on Jul. 18, said she enjoyed seeing new places, different cultures and people.

She has ridden a camel and marveled at the pyramids in Egypt. She once got lost on Parisian trains and spent an entire day exploring the Louvre.

“I’ve had a lot of excitement in my life,” Jones said.

She has a need to get out and learn about people from other places through travel, she said.

She moved from Los Angeles to Modesto in 1945. She’s had 10 children and 26 grandchildren with her husband.

“If I set my mind to something I do it. Or at least I used to do it,” she said, referring to her love for travel.

Staying young at heart

On her last birthday, Sep. 16, Bertha Riggs’ stepgranddaughter sent her a shirt that said “101 years loved.”

She never imagined she’d live to see a man walk on the moon, her grandchildren grow into adults or her Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints build a temple in Modesto .

Born and raised in San Francisco, Riggs later moved to Marin County. For the past decade, she’s called Oakdale home, where the biggest change she’s noticed over the years is the increase in traffic.

In her mid-60s, after retiring from secretarial work, Riggs enrolled in college for the first time, studying psychology.

“That’s what kept her mentally young,” her daughter, Nina, said.

Her secret to longevity? Eating healthy, staying active with walks and meeting new people. As for her skincare routine, Riggs swears by washing her face with warm water followed by cold, then applying apple cider vinegar, moisturizer, sunscreen and a bit of mascara. Her dental care is equally simple: She has kept all of her own teeth with baking soda and salt.

Throughout her century of life, Riggs has held onto the best advice she ever received: “Be happy and love everybody.”

“And I took it. I do love everybody,” she said.