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3 Women Celebrate Their 100th Birthdays

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By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

HUDSON - Eleanor Brecht can remember when a covered wagon was considered modern transportation.

A resident at Atria Baypoint Village on State Road 52, she was one of three women who celebrated their 100th birthdays during an event Wednesday afternoon that featured cake, live entertainment and Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano.

Brecht, who turned 100 on Nov. 10, credited her longevity to a lifelong aversion to cigarettes.

"I never smoked," said the Bronx, N.Y., native. "I grew up in the flapper days and I think I tried it once. I had to spit it out. The doctor says I have good lungs and a good heart."

Theresa Rubin, a Nyack, N.Y., native, and Molly Weideman, originally from Chicago, also celebrated their centennial birthdays. Rubin turns 100 on Dec. 4; Weideman, a former resident who now lives at Windsor Woods Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Hudson, will be 100 on Saturday.

The event featured entertainment by the Silver Follies Revue. The group danced to songs such as "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and Frank Sinatra's rendition of "Rhinestone Cowboy." When "Que Sera, Sera" was played, dozens of residents in attendance spontaneously sang along.

The oldest of eight children, Rubin said spaghetti was the secret to long life.

In New York, she and husband Irving Rubin ran the Strauss Store, which sold appliances and other items. The couple raised three daughters, and Rubin has five grandchildren.

"My husband died more than 25 years ago," Rubin said. "I can't believe it."

Weideman's son, Bill Weideman, said she was one of 13 children. Her husband, Bill Weideman died a day after the couple's 50th wedding anniversary, her son said.

"She was a housewife, and she also worked in the war plants," Bill Weideman said. "She was just really active all the time. She was in the bowling league and worked for years and years at St. Vincent DePaul, a Catholic thrift store."

The women were serenaded with a loud rendition of "Happy Birthday" and Mariano read proclamations in their honor.

Sipping a cappuccino, resident Aubrey Alfin, a Brooklyn, N.Y., native, joked about all the fuss.

"Next week, we'll have a couple more" centenarians, he said. "And the week after that, we'll have a couple more."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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