"Born in 1917 in a house that her grandfather built in San Jose's Naglee Park neighborhood Betty Ann Chandler's life spanned San Jose's evolution from a small, agricultural city to the biggest city in the Bay Area and home to tech companies that would have been science fiction in her youth. Chandler, most likely San Jose's oldest resident, died Jan. 9 at age 108."
"She graduated from San Jose High in 1935 and received her bachelor's degree in education from San Jose State in 1939, the same year she married Elliott Stuart Chandler. She taught first grade in the Campbell Union district for a year before settling down to raise five children (who, in turn, led to nine grandchildren and at least 10 great-grandchildren)."
"When I visited the front yard of her house for an outdoor 105th birthday party in 2022, I marveled at the thought that Chandler had lived through two World Wars and survived two pandemics, not to mention depressions, recessions and a parade of politicians at every level. What was her secret? Keep moving, keep your friends and have a big family, she said. I was born smiling. And I love to smile. Give a smile and you get a smile, I say."
Betty Ann Chandler was born in 1917 in a house her grandfather built in San Jose's Naglee Park and died Jan. 9 at age 108, likely San Jose's oldest resident. She graduated San Jose High in 1935 and earned a bachelor's degree in education from San Jose State in 1939, marrying Elliott Stuart Chandler that year. She taught first grade for a year, then raised five children, becoming grandmother to nine and great-grandmother to at least ten. She joined the San Jose Woman's Club in 1940 and remained active into her centenarian years. The Chandlers ran Desimone's Cycles and Toy Shop until about 1990. She credited movement, friends and family for her longevity.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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