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"You know how life goes, it's never the way you plan," said Four Seasons resident Jane Pihl (pronounced Peel) who turned 100 on Aug. 30. Her life has exemplified that philosophy. She was born in Nebraska to a musician mother and landscape architect father, one of six children. Her great-great grandfather was one of the original members of the Seventh Day Aventists. "He joined before the religion even had a name," she said. She moved to California with her mother after her parents' divorce and met her husband, Kern, at Pacific Union College. "I attended one year and finished later." Kern graduated from Loma Linda Medical School in 1947, several years after their marriage, and she spent years moving around as his career as a physician required. They had two daughters and lived in various locations, including Iraq, Egypt, Denmark, Switzerland, Michigan, Iowa and five years in Peru. "A doctor offered Kern a position in Peru. We went as medical missionaries and were paid $305 a month; $300 for being a missionary and an extra $5 for being a doctor," she said. "I was told when we lived there that I was supposed to be working but Kern wouldn't let me. We didn't have a lot of needs and we had company all the time. One year we took six girls in to live with us." While in Iran, Kern had to close a hospital. "There were signs that said 'Go home, Yankees!'" she recalled. "I was so naive. I didn't know the whole world didn't love America." Kern yearned to return to Southern California and accepted a practice in Colton in 1962, where he stayed until 2002. She remarked on the change in culture she has seen since her younger years. "It was the 1960s hippies who changed everything. This used to be a very conservative country. The entire moral structure of society has totally changed." Jane remembers at age eight when she had her first encounter with modern technology: the radio. "My brother brought a little crystal set and put it on the dining room table. The first song I heard was a drunken song." She went on to sing the lyrics for Show Me The Way To Go Home: "Show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I want to go to bed, I had a little drink about an hour ago, And it's gone right to my head. Everywhere I roam, Over land or sea or foam, You can always hear me singing this song, Show me the way to go home." She recalled when the Lindberg baby was kidnapped. "Announcers came on the radio and told the kidnappers what medicine to give the baby." "Today I feel like I'm in another world!" she said. "I'm thrilled with my cell phone but everything else, people doing everything online, I just can't get with it." "I still send letters to my friends, can you imagine?" she laughed. She moved to Four Seasons two years ago to be closer to her daughters, living with one. Kern passed away ten years ago. Jane attributes her longevity to healthy living prescribed by her religion. In addition to exercising and eating two meals each day with no snacking, she and her husband committed to veganism when they had their first daughter. "I found out Kern was sneaking hamburgers. He stopped that," she said. Even her doctor asked how she maintains her level of health, taking no medicine at the age of 100. She explained that it's because she lived in a Blue Zone, specifically Loma Linda, one of five areas in the world identified by scientific journals to be a location where people live the longest. Her relationship with God is still the most important part of her life. "I talk to Him all day," she said. ~ Leighton McLaughlin & Courtney Taylor Four Seasons Resident Hits the 100 Mark 1917 in the U.S. 1 9 1 7 Jan. 16 The Danish West Indies (later named the U.S. Virgin Islands) is sold to the United States for $25 million. March 2 The enactment of the Jones Act grants Puerto Ricans United States citizenship. March 7 "Livery Stable Blues," recorded with "Dixie Jazz Band One Step" by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, becomes the first jazz recording commercially released April 2 WWI: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks the United States Congress for a declaration of war on Germany. May 21 Over 300 acres (73 blocks) are destroyed in the Great Atlanta fire of 1917 in the United States. Nov. 14 Night of Terror: The superintendent of the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia orders the guards to brutalize the suffragist inmates. December A severe cold wave in Interior Alaska produces the coldest recorded mean monthly temperatures in the United States. Fort Yukon averages -48.3 °F. Jane Pihl enjoying her birthday celebration. Photo by Julie Farren of the Record-Gazette. Reprinted with permission. FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | NOVEMBER 2017 9

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