By Gert Thaler
LA JOLLA, California –San Diego’s Sigrid Fischer is celebrating her 90th birthday and if you think, perchance, that this does not take some doing, for anyone, you are sadly mistaken.
The joke goes that the people who read the obituary listings just want to be sure that their name and photo don’t appear on the page. A common denominator among those whose photos grace the page is 89. Lots of people seem to top off the 80 mark then miss out on catching the wavering gold ring which to many symbolizes the beginning of maybe, maybe, maybe, another ten years to the century mark.
Sigrid is a winner. In a lotta ways she is just that. When she had a body full of steam and energy she would muster her talents and turned out some of the most successful fundraising galas catering to an elite crowd and when she walked into a ballroom there was a sort of lit up star surrounding her entrance, with the latest elegant evening attire just a cut above what everybody else was wearing.
She wasn’t just Sigrid Fischer. For most her life she was first and foremost Mrs. Jack Fischer (his real name was Aron Jacob Fischer but his two worlds knew him as “Jack” and it wasn’t until he became an obituary page listing in 2006 and the Aron Jacob names were affixed to him that some San Diego friends realized that Aron Jacob and Jack were one and the same.). Jack served as the first elected Mayor of Lusaka, capitol of once-upon-a-time “Northern Rhodesia” , now known as “Zambia”(and hosted Her Majesty, the Queen Mother, on a state visit). Theirs was a union filled with years of adventure, love, children (3) and grandchildren, (6) all bound together in creating lives which offered the best of times. They immigrated to La Jolla in 1966.
“When she walks into a room the spotlight finds her and all eyes turn in that direction” said daughter, Sylvia Geffen. “She has always had that magic aura whether it be a ballroom or a family get together”.
Sigrid was asked to look back on her journey of traveling through 90 years of living. Born in a small German town , she attended local schools and Hitler’s rise to power made it necessary for the family to relinquish a successful fabric business, pack only a few items of sentimental value and follow others to South Africa’s Capetown where they were granted one year residency visas before being forced to find a more permanent home outside its borders, the choice being Northern Rhodesia and its main city..
Schooled to become a women’s clothing designer she founded her own business at a young age and with the same kind of determination which has marked her life as a woman to whom others would point as a prime example of a successful business entrepreneur, a devoted wife and mother, and especially as a woman who knew how to retain her composure and who understood how to instill a calming influence on others.
Her personal attire became her calling card which identifies her to this day.
“But why have we picked this particular woman this day to write a feature story about her life? After all there are some others in so many different walks of life that qualify, and who perhaps have contributed more to earn their own personal praises. The very fact that Sigrid does not aspire to outdo her contemporaries is one of her most admirable qualities.
During Book Fair week at San Diego’s JCC, I came upon Eve Gerstle whom I hadn’t seen since I escorted her and her husband to Israel in 1982. Now 96 years old and fashionably dressed in my favorite color of lavender, Gerstle proudly informed me she just renewed her driver’s license (missing only one correct answer). I squinched at that news but she didn’t so we went on with the reunion conversation.
This past week my friend, Seymour Colen in Ft. Myers, Florida celebrated his 95th with a bang up birthday party complete with orchestra, dinner dancing and a multitude of guests running a full range of ages. Sey waltzed and swung around the dance floor with “girls” near and at his own age, keeping step with the tunes. Yes, he continues to drive and I continue to squinch.
Every time I walk down the halls of the JCC, I pass seniors going to and fro from card games, lectures, meals. No they aren’t hopping and skipping but they are obviously going places and doing things that keep their minds and muscles well oiled. So who’s to say the brakes should be put upon one’s activities just because the calendar says so?
A true “doyen” of San Diego Jewish life (she gave birth to “Women’s Division of our United Jewish Federation”) is Mrs. Abraham Ratner (Anne) whom I have known for most of her 96 years. Still alert, still retaining the personal charm and physical beauty that made her one of our town’s major cultural and social leaders in and out of the Jewish community, she continues to hold court as the matriarch of the Ratner clan, surrounded by her children, “Sandy” Ratner and Pauline Foster and their varied off-spring.
How it happened I cannot say but about six months ago I turned over the steering wheel to a 25 year old companion . I think the decision was made the day after a 90 year old driver went through the window of my hairdresser’s salon. As I approach my own 90’s I feel I have done a favor to a lot of people. And instead of botox I quit squinching.
Happy Birthday to Sigrid Fischer who will celebrate on November 27 at a gala hosted by her three daughters at a La Jolla hotel. Like Seymour Colen ‘s party, the Fischer guests have been invited to join the honoree by swinging and swaying around a dance floor .
I’m looking forward to the event and already have chosen an extra special outfit.
As Fischer’s contemporary I’ll probably go home humming the tune and words to “After the Ball is Over,” toss off my slippers, slipping easily into the tune of “Send in the Clowns” as I toss the welcome blanket over my shoulders. And hope I’m not squinching.
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Thaler is a veteran columnist for vaious Jewish publications in San Diego.