Monroe woman is 107 and still smiling

Published 11:04 pm Friday, February 22, 2008

Some people call her an inspiration. Georgia Geiger has just lived a quiet life longer than most people.

Geiger celebrated her 107th birthday on Friday.

“I’m 107? I don’t believe it,” Geiger said.

Geiger has lived for several years at Merrill Gardens, an assisted living retirement community in Monroe. She suffers from dementia, but she makes her own bed and walks with a cane, said Julie Gifford, a personal pathways coordinator of the retirement community.

Geiger is probably the oldest person in Monroe, Gifford said.

“She amazes me,” Gifford, 49, said. “I’m amazed how independent she is.”

Geiger was born in a small town called Red Lodge in Montana in 1901, said Alan Geiger, her grandson. After marrying her husband in Montana, she moved to Los Angeles, where she enjoyed an urban lifestyle.

Georgia Geiger still remembers how she and her husband lived near Charlie Chaplin’s movie studios, he said. She often saw actors and actresses.

“She was a very attractive young lady,” he said. She wears dresses and skirts every day, and he’s never seen her wear slacks.

When she turned 100, her family helped her move to Washington, said her grandson, who lives in Snohomish. She also has a great-grandson and three great-granddaughters.

Geiger, who has always loved cats, enjoys their company at Merrill Gardens, Gifford said. The retirement community’s dementia unit has two cats, Fluffy and Peaches.

“They seem to migrate to her because they know she likes them,” Gifford said.

Geiger used to work as a nurse’s aid, Gifford said. She invested her small savings in the stock market, and the investment now allows her to live at the retirement community.

“She’s providing for herself,” Gifford said.

So, what’s her secret of living so long?

“Oh, I don’t think that’s long,” Geiger said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.