By Cathy Ingalls
Albany Democrat-Herald | Posted: Thursday, July 24, 2008 12:00 am
Yes, Gerry Regester Looney is 100 years old, but that doesn't mean the life-long Oregonian can't continue to do what's been important to her all of her life: be musical.
Looney, who celebrated her 100th birthday Wednesday with her friends and family at Villas of Albany, loves to play the piano. She plays where she lives, and when she does, she always draws a crowd. She prefers, however, to play only for herself.
Previously, Looney played a lot of ragtime, but now she likes the older melodies.
"I can't remember the names of what I play because it's hard enough to even remember my own name," she said chuckling.
Looney often pokes fun at herself, saying once during an interview she would try to behave herself at her birthday party.
She does have a bit of trouble recalling past events. She knows she was born at home in Portland and believes that her father worked for a planing mill there.
The family moved to Lebanon when Looney was a year old. There, her mother played the piano for one of the theaters and her father was the city's street superintendent.
After graduating from high school, Looney joined the glee club at Southern Oregon State Normal School in Ashland (now Southern Oregon University.) Her instructor thought she had so much potential she was encouraged to get professional training.
Instead, she took a job teaching music in Jefferson, where she met her future husband, Gilbert, when she joined a musical combo. Gilbert's family had come west to the Jefferson area on the Oregon Trail in 1843.
Looney was a member of the Jefferson Christian Church, joining when it was established on Main Street in 1924. She played the piano at the church, while her good friend Genevieve McCaw, now deceased, played the organ.
Together they played and sang at weddings and funerals, and it was said that both had married and buried more people than anyone else in town.
Looney left her Jefferson home in 2005 and moved to Albany. She was delighted to learn her next door neighbor was Donna Powell Bailes, who she taught when Bailes was in grade school.
"She was an excellent student, and she's still smart," she said.
Looney attributes her long life to her genes, the fact she never drank nor smoked, her caring for others, her interest in reading and that she exercised whenever she could.
GERRY LOONEY
Born: July 23, 1908, Portland.
Fond memory: Her late husband, Gilbert, never said a cross word to her, although there were times, she said, when she deserved it.
Next party: Hosted by the city of Jefferson at the community hall from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.