Age and agility in Sun City

During the post Second World War baby boom 79 million Americans were born 1946 -1964. The first of the baby boomers turned 65 in 2011 and as they began to retire, I visited the original American purpose-built retirement community: Sun City, Arizona.

A sign marks the boundary of Sun City, Arizona, January 6, 2013. Sun City was built in 1959 by entrepreneur Del Webb as America’s first active retirement community. One hundred of the residents of Sun City are over the age of 100, more than any other place in the world. Another 2,350 residents are over the age of 85. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

An 80-year-old and a 20-year-old were getting married in Sun City. A local newspaper reporter came to cover the wedding. The first question the reporter asked was: “Don’t you think the sex will lead to premature death?”

The 80-year-old groom replied: “If she dies, she dies”.

Fred Isenberg, 75, broke into a broad grin as he told me the punch-line of this joke during a break in a tango dancing class he was taking with his wife Suzanne, 71.

Fred Isenberg, 75, (R) and his wife Suzanne Isenberg, 71, practice tango in a dance class in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

As with all good humor, the joke is loosely inspired by reality.

Pat Weber, 81, leads the Sun City Poms cheerleader dancers as they rehearse in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES)

One hundred of the residents of Sun City, Arizona are over the age of 100, more than any other place in the world. Another 2,350 residents are over the age of 85.

Sun City was built in 1959 by entrepreneur Del Webb as America’s first active retirement community, on cotton fields west of Phoenix.

A woman rides in a golf cart with her dog in Sun City, Arizona, January 6, 2013. Golf carts are legal on Sun City roads where the speed limit is 35mph or less. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Del Webb predicted that retirees would flock to a community where they were given more than just a house with a rocking chair in which to sit and wait to die.

Barbara Miller, 77, (R) and Inge Natoli, 90, practice synchronized swimming in Sun City, Arizona, January 9, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES)

Today’s residents keep their minds and bodies active by socializing at over 120 clubs such as square dancing, ceramics, roller skating, computers, cheerleading, racquetball, silver craft, yoga, and stained glass. The seven recreation centers offer a multitude of sports and games for Sun City’s 55-and-over population, in addition to golfing on the eleven courses.

Robert Harker, 73, (L) and his wife Nancy, 70, square dance in Sun City, Arizona, January 8, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 
Earl Gilbert, 97, plays chess at Royal Oaks retirement community in Sun City, Arizona, January 8, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

I met Dario Rossini, a slim 90-year-old former air force pilot, doing sit-ups in the gym one evening. He told me he does at least 100 sit-ups a day, and spends an hour in the gym four to five days a week to keep his muscles and joints healthy. As I watched, he moved to different gym machines to lift weights.

Dario Rossini, 90, (L) works out at a recreation center in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

At a Saturday night dance Donald Smitherman, 98, swung his wife Marlene, 78 around the dance floor, before dipping her for a kiss. “I’ll be 99 in April, and I played 18 holes of golf today,” he told me proudly.

Donald Smitherman, 98, (L) kisses his wife Marlene at the end of a dance in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

The activity has tangible benefits, says Paul Herrmann, 67, Executive Director of the Sun City Visitors Center.

Teodora Spanjers, 80, (L) from the Netherlands via Wisconsin, poses with Ginny Bravos, 86, in a swimming pool locker room in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. Spanjers said she rode 1,800 miles on her bike in Wisconsin last year. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

“Fitness is huge,” he says. “We know that with staving off heart disease and everything else. We stay active and our blood vessels will stay cleaner, we don’t get the build-up in them.”

Retirees participate in a yoga class in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

“If you talk to people in a traditional old people’s home, 90+ per cent of them will tell you what they used to do. That’s all they have. Here in Sun City people are talking about what they’re planning on doing, and what they’re doing next.”

Jimmy Trollen, 80, (L) rides in a boat he converted into a vehicle in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

John Longo is looking forward to competing in the Masters Swimming National Championships in Cleveland this spring.

John Longo, 88, swims his daily mile training for the Masters national championship in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES)

Longo went to Coney Island to swim in the ocean as a boy growing up in Brooklyn. But the 88-year-old only learned to swim competitively when he took swimming lessons to improve his stroke at one of the Sun City recreation center pools. Now he wakes up at 5.30am six days a week to swim a mile.

John Longo, 88, swims his daily mile training for the Masters national championship in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Sun Citians don’t avoid the wear and tear of old age, but a lot of them do seem to defy it.

The Sun City Poms cheerleader dancers rehearse in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

“We all have ailments of some kind,” Ruth Pharris, 66, told me, before Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” started blaring from the stereo, and she joined the Sun City Poms cheerleading squad in a rehearsal for a performance they’re doing in Laughlin, Nevada.

Tommie Sebring, 76, (C) rehearses with the Sun City Poms cheerleader dancers in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Virginia Harvey, 103, was ballroom dancing until a few months ago, when she traveled to Las Vegas to dance in a competition, and injured herself falling in the parking lot.

“I’ve got arthritis all over so that’s why I exercise in the water,” says Barbara Miller, 77. Miller was joined by 90-year-old Inge Natoli for their three-times-a-week early morning synchronized swimming practice.

Inge Natoli, 90, who emigrated to Michigan from Germany, and has lived in Sun City for 29 years (R), practices synchronized swimming with Barbara Miller, 77, in Sun City, Arizona, January 9, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Natoli emigrated from Germany to Michigan, and has lived in Sun City for 29 years. She put on a pink track suit after the swim, and hopped into her golf cart to go to take a woman who has cancer to the hospital.

Inge Natoli, 90, who emigrated to Michigan from Germany, and has lived in Sun City for 29 years, stands by her golf cart practicing synchronized swimming in Sun City, Arizona, January 9, 2013. Natoli swims three times a week and also bowls and plays bocce ball. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

“That’s the great thing about Sun City – everybody helps each other,” commented Miller.

A sign asking for help looking for a lost pair of bifocals is seen in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Sun City Visitors Center estimates 17,196 of its residents do some kind of volunteer work, saving the community roughly $34.5 million, and keeping property taxes down. There is a sheriff’s posse, a street cleaning crew, and cheery seniors who take meals on wheels to housebound people.

Sun City Sheriff’s Posse member Elizabeth Neubauer, 90, sits at the reception desk in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Constantine Moundalexis, 55, moved to Sun City from New Jersey to live next door to his ailing mother, Catherine Morgan, 82, who is confined to her bed.

Constantine Moundalexis, 55, (L) shows his mother, Catherine Morgan, 82, her graduation photograph in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. Moundalexis moved next door to his mother to take care of her during the final stage of her life. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

“She was a schoolteacher in New Jersey for many years, and raised three children all by herself,” he says. A lot of good things this woman has done for us, and I’m very grateful, and that’s why I’m here.”

“I know in Europe and different parts of the world, the older generation is taken in by the younger generation. They live with their parents and they take care of them directly.”

Constantine Moundalexis, 55, (R) feeds his mother, Catherine Morgan, 82, in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. Moundalexis moved next door to his mother to take care of her during the final stage of her life. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

“Here in this country we don’t do that as much or as well. And that was something I did not want to see for my Mom.”

Constantine Moundalexis, 55, (L) watches as a Meals on Wheels volunteer greets his house-bound mother, Catherine Morgan, 82, in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. Moundalexis moved next door to his mother to take care of her during the final stage of her life. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Balancing his mother’s need for medication to take away the pain she feels when she is moved, with the greater awareness she has when she is not knocked out by drugs, is a daily struggle.

Death is a constant reminder in a community this old.

Zerik Hakobyan, 86, (L) touches her great-grandson Roman Hakobyan, 16 months, at the grave of her late husband Ovanes Hakobyan in Sun City, Arizona, January , 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 
Sixteen-month-old Roman Hakobyan (R) plays with the wrinkles of his great-grandmother Zerik Hakobyan, 86, as she mourns at the grave of her late husband Ovanes Hakobyan in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Poignant love notes are attached to many of the headstones at the Sunland Memorial Park cemetery. A blanket of bouquets stretches to the horizon.

A grave is seen at a cemetery in Sun City, Arizona, January 7, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Sheriff’s Posse Commander Arthur Jenkins says he see the same man come to the cemetery every day to be with his wife.

More than 20% of people are widowed. Women outnumber men by a ratio of about three to one.

Curtis Hay, 82, who worked for Boeing for 30 years, plays pool in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

The Sun City singles dance club every Friday averages 250 members, with as many as 400 at this time of year.

Jackie Sharp, 71, (L-R), Jay Migliaccio, 89, and Marcella Wargolet, 75, toast with homemade wine at a singles club in Sun City, Arizona, January 4, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Bob Ralyon, 79, whose wife died 2 ½ years ago, was chatting to a table of ladies at a singles pot-luck.

“When you’re married for over 50 years, the word single sort of scares you,” he said.

“And some of these people, they’re scared, they’re lonely, they’re not sure what they’re going to do tomorrow. And this is a very good place to get them out to do things, when normally they would look at four walls, which is depressing. You can’t do that, you’ve got to get out there.

Retirees greet each other at a Saturday night dance in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Your marriage is now a memory, and there’s a chance that there’s someone out there special that you could ‘hook up with’. That’s not my language, but it’s the language of the kids today. So I’m always looking!”

Duane Roberts, 84, (L) dances with Loma Mosser, 84, in Sun City, Arizona, January 5, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Sun City statistics, provided by the Sun City Visitors Center

  • 14.8 square miles
  • 38,500 residents
  • Average age 72.4
  • 100 and up — 100 residents
  • 95-99 — 350 residents
  • 85-94 – 2,000 residents
  • 75-84 – 10,000 residents
  • 65-74 – 14,000 residents
  • 55-64 – 10,800 residents
  • 45-54 – 2,500 residents (approx.)
  • Number of Sun City developments in 2013 in the U.S. = 15
  • Cost of a home in 1960 = $8,500-$11,750
  • Cost of a home in 2013 = $85,000 for a condo to $150,000 for a small home to $500,000 for a spacious home on a lake or golf course
  • Annual recreation center fees = $444
  • Average of 312 days of sunshine a year
  • High temperature in July 103.4 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Low temperature in December 40.5 degrees Fahrenheit

 

Publications:

REUTERS PHOTOGRAPHERS BLOG

REUTERS SLIDESHOW

MSNBC

BUZZFEED

LE MONDE

EL PAIS

STERN

SPIEGEL

DIE WELT

LA REPUBBLICA

FOLHA DE SAN PAULO

GLOBO

EL NACIONAL

GAZETA WYBORCZA

agingfitnessseniorssun city
Comments (0)
Add Comment