Wilhelmina Delco, who turned 88 in July, exercises five days a week in a pool near her home in Austin, Texas. (Sharon Jayson / Kaiser Health News)

Wilhelmina Delco, who turned 88 in July, exercises five days a week in a pool near her home in Austin, Texas. (Sharon Jayson / Kaiser Health News)

Defying stereotypes, these seniors are aging with joy

Researchers find our culture reinforces negative attitudes about growing older.

  • By Sharon Jayson Kaiser Health News
  • Monday, November 13, 2017 5:03pm
  • Life

By Sharon Jayson

Kaiser Health News

By Sharon Jayson

Kaiser Health News

Wilhelmina Delco learned to swim at 80. Harold Berman is in his 67th year practicing law. Mildred Walston spent 76 years on the job at a candy company. And brothers Joe and Warren Barger are finding new spots in their homes for the gold medals they’ve just earned in track-and-field events at the National Senior Games.

These octogenarians and nonagenarians may not be widely known outside their local communities, but just as with their more famous peers — think Carl Reiner, Betty White and Dr. Ruth (Westheimer) — the thread that binds them is not the year on their birth certificate but the way they live.

“Age shouldn’t be a reason to slow down,” said Joe Barger, 91, of Austin.

It never hurts to have longevity in your genes, but mindset plays a role in how people age, experts say. Some older people have been termed “super-agers” for mental acuity despite their years; for them, the typical age-related decline in brain volume is much slower.

For elders who aren’t among these elite agers, staying vital may be about more than physical or mental agility. Researchers find that society’s focus on youth culture and negative stereotypes about aging prompt memory loss and stress. But older adults who want to dispel notions of becoming feeble have growing ranks to emulate.

Joe Barger and brother Warren, 95, of Chattanooga, competed for two weeks this summer in Birmingham, where Warren earned five gold medals and set a new national high-jump record in his 95-99 age bracket. In badminton, Warren was placed in the 85-89 bracket because there weren’t competitors in his age group.

“My secret of life is to wake up every morning with something to do,” Warren said. “Some people I feel are old because they allow themselves to get old.”

A former insurance salesman and church music director, Warren plays golf and pickleball once a week and badminton twice a week. He mows his lawn, volunteers weekly at his church and sings in the senior choir.

In a study published last year, David Weiss, an assistant professor of sociomedical sciences and psychology at the Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University, found that those who don’t accept the inevitability of aging can “counteract the detrimental and self-fulfilling consequences of negative age stereotypes.”

“My research looks at why no one wants to be old,” Weiss said.

“They want to set themselves apart from this negatively viewed age group. They just want to distance themselves from stereotypes: ‘I’m not like the stereotype. I’m different,’ ” he said. “Adults who believe age is just a number showed better memory performance, but adults who believed aging is set in stone and fixed had a decrease in memory performance and a stronger stress reaction.”

Social psychologist Becca Levy, of the Yale School of Public Health, said her studies found an increase in negative age stereotypes over the past two centuries. “Part of it is due to media and marketing,” she said. “An ageist culture produces many more negative stereotypes.”

Such notions have an impact.

Research by Sarah Barber, assistant professor of psychology at San Francisco State University, found that people blamed routine forgetfulness on their age — calling it a “senior moment” — because popular wisdom reinforces stereotypes of age-related memory decline. Negative stereotypes made older adults “over-attribute everyday memory losses we all have to age,” she said.

Do what is enjoyable

To stay vital, Westheimer advises older people to “do as many things that are enjoyable to them as possible — participating in activities at a senior center, going to the theater and movies and not just sitting home and saying, ‘I’m too old to be out there.’”

Reiner, the 95-year-old writer, comedian, director and creator of the 1960s-era “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” is way too busy to slow down. He and his longtime friend Mel Brooks, who turned 91 this year, have dinner at Reiner’s house most evenings unless the comedic genius behind such classics as “Blazing Saddles” and “The Producers” is away on business. Reiner’s latest book — his 22nd — “Too Busy to Die,” is one of five he has written since turning 90.

Reiner also served as a narrator in the documentary “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast,” which aired on HBO in June. The film, which includes a bevy of the famous and not-so-famous in their 90s and beyond, explored why some thrive and others don’t in their later years.

Staying involved

Westheimer, 89, a sex therapist who dishes out advice in a heavy German accent, also tweets, sometimes several times a day.

“I’m very busy. I’m teaching at Columbia. I’m coming out in 2018 with three new books. A movie is being made about me,” Westheimer said in a phone interview.

Westheimer is out six nights a week. She visits with friends and family — especially her grandchildren — and she serves on several boards.

Delco, who turned 88 in July, is trying to get a bit less involved with the half-dozen or so boards she’s been serving on in Austin. Traffic congestion and travel time to attend board meetings have made this former state lawmaker less inclined to participate, she said.

Five days a week, Delco starts her mornings at a nearby Y, where her days of swimming laps ended because of arthritis. Now, she exercises with barbells in the pool to maintain strength and agility.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Photo courtesy of Graphite Arts Center
Amelia DiGiano’s photography is part of the “Seeing Our Planet” exhibit, which opens Friday and runs through Aug. 9 at the Graphite Arts Center in Edmonds.
A&E Calendar for July 10

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Snohomish County Dahlia Society members Doug Symonds and Alysia Obina on Monday, March 3, 2025 in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
How to grow for show: 10 tips for prize-winning dahlias

Snohomish County Dahlia Society members share how they tend to their gardens for the best blooms.

What’s Up columnist Andrea Brown with a selection of black and white glossy promotional photos on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Free celeb photos! Dig into The Herald’s Hollywood time capsule

John Wayne, Travolta, Golden Girls and hundreds more B&W glossies are up for grabs at August pop-up.

The 2025 Audi A3 premium compact sedan (Provided by Audi).
2025 Audi A3 upgradesdesign and performance

The premium compact sedan looks sportier, acts that way, too.

Edmonds announces summer concert lineup

The Edmonds Arts Commission is hosting 20 shows from July 8 to Aug. 24, featuring a range of music styles from across the Puget Sound region.

Big Bend Photo Provided By Ford Media
2025 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Increases Off-Road Capability

Mountain Loop Highway Was No Match For Bronco

Cascadia College Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Midori Sakura looks in the surrounding trees for wildlife at the North Creek Wetlands on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Cascadia College ecology students teach about the importance of wetlands

To wrap up the term, students took family and friends on a guided tour of the North Creek wetlands.

Mustang Convertible Photo Provided By Ford Media Center
Ford’s 2024 Ford Mustang Convertible Revives The Past

Iconic Sports Car Re-Introduced To Wow Masses

Kim Crane talks about a handful of origami items on display inside her showroom on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Crease is the word: Origami fans flock to online paper store

Kim’s Crane in Snohomish has been supplying paper crafters with paper, books and kits since 1995.

The 2025 Nissan Murano midsize SUV has two rows of seats and a five-passenger capacity. (Photo provided by Nissan)
2025 Nissan Murano is a whole new machine

A total redesign introduces the fourth generation of this elegant midsize SUV.

A woman flips through a book at the Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Pop some tags at Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley

$20 buys an outfit, a unicycle — or a little Macklemore magic. Sales support the food bank.

Two visitors comb the beach at Kayak Point Regional County Park on Friday, June 14, 2024, in Tulalip, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Nate Nehring and WSU Beach Watchers to host beach cleanup at Kayak Point

Children and families are especially encouraged to attend the event at Kayak Point Regional County Park.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.