By Clyde Noel

Town Crier Correspondent

The music was appropriate, the finger food enchanting and the champagne kept flowing at the Forum recently for two resident centenarians.

Louise Price and Reuben Gilbert have resided at the Forum for the last eight years, and when they both reached 100 in the same week, they celebrated with friends and other Forum residents.

“It takes a lot to live to be 100, but they follow a pattern,” said Ken Fullmore, executive manager of the Forum. “You have to enjoy life, know when you need help and have a tremendous sense of humor.”

Price, a native of San Francisco, was a secretary for Levi Strauss and lived in Los Altos before she moved to the Forum. Still active, Price volunteers in the gift department at El Camino Hospital almost daily.

“I am one of eight children, and I can remember camping in Golden Gate Park during the earthquake and fire in 1906,” she said.

Gilbert is a native of Bristol, England, and came to San Francisco in 1920 when he was 18 years old. He worked for Swift & Co. in San Francisco, retiring as credit manager.

Gilbert and his wife, Ruth, have been married 63 years and moved to the Forum from Millbrae eight years ago.

They have two daughters, four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Forum residents come out in style for celebrations. Talking with different party volunteers at the Forum centennial celebration, it was apparent that centenarians are healthy and avoid the most devastating diseases of old age until the last few years of their lives. They also seem to be exceptionally good at managing stress and get along with other people.