Plans to celebrate Virginia Wilmoth Beck’s 100th birthday Monday, April 27 with a big party were scuttled by the pandemic. So family and friends switched to the next-best thing: a drive-by parade.
“We had a whole room and 100 people coming to the Harbor House in Seaport Village, but we had to cancel that because, obviously, you can’t have a party like that right now,” said Virginia’s granddaughter, Adele Spivak. “So we decided to have a car parade for her. Everybody is going to meet me at 2 p.m. at the bottom of Foothill Boulevard on Monmouth, spaced six feet, and drive up the hill in north PB.”
Added Spivak, “Everything’s going to be decorated, and we’re going to have her sitting in a chair watching the parade.”
Spivak noted her grandmother “doesn’t know anything about it.”
Statistics show, though the proportion of people reaching 100 is slowly increasing over time, it’s still extremely rare. Now roughly one person in every 6,000 reaches their 100th birthday. Fifty years ago, only one person in every 67,000 reached the century mark. Only 0.0173 percent of Americans today live to age 100.
Even at 100, Adele pointed out her grandmother continues to be very aware and engaged.
After purchasing property on the bay while it was still being dredged, Virginia Beck and her husband James became charter members of the San Diego Mission Bay Boat and Ski Club, and took part in all the demonstrations and shows the club held. “She has enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, the many years of activities our beautiful beach and bay has provided her and her family,” said Spivak.
Virginia is the mother of two, the grandmother of seven, the great-grandmother of 14, and the great-great-grandmother of two.
In addition to sailing, water skiing, fishing, and camping, Virginia also managed during her long life to develop and pursue an interest in genealogy. After retiring from the San Diego Unified School District, where she was the head librarian at Memorial Junior High School, she traveled and explored the North American Continent with her husband in an RV. During these years she traced her and her husband’s ancestry, which led her to join the Daughters of the American Revolution; a service organization devoted to helping local citizens and servicemen. As a retired librarian, Virginia continues to volunteer her time once a week as a docent for the San Diego City Library Downtown. She helps with their rare books and genealogy departments.
Spivak said her grandmother’s list of friends “is endless. All who know her love her. Her long and selfless life, and her strong and abiding support of those friends and family, will always be a hallmark of her life.”
Virginia moved to San Diego with her parents at the age of 3. She is an only child. She grew up in the North Park and Downtown areas while her parents owned and operated a restaurant downtown. She is also an alumna of San Diego High School and San Diego State University. She is also an active member of the San Diego Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Before becoming a San Diego School District Librarian at Memorial Junior High School, she had worked at both the San Diego Courthouse and the San Diego Post Office.
