Indianhead Estates resident to celebrate 100th birthday

A relatively new member of the Weiser community, Andrea Perez will be celebrating her 100th birthday this weekend with the many new friends she has made over the past couple of months at Indianhead Estates.

 Perez’s smooth complexion belies her age, and is something women 30-years her junior might envy. 

 Born in 1924, Perez said she spent her childhood and youth in Los Angeles with her parents and seven siblings.

 “L.A. was okay, but our parents were strict, especially with us girls,” she said. “We couldn’t go anywhere. The boys could, but we couldn’t.”

 She said when she was 17, her family moved to Moorpark in Ventura County, after an older sister had married and wanted the family to join her there.

 In the 1940s, she met and married her husband and the couple raised a family of seven children in Moorpark. Over time she had worked in electronics, soldering television parts, and later spent time in quality control packaging tomatoes and strawberries.

 The only one left among her brothers and sisters, she said her siblings had so many children she couldn’t keep straight who belonged to whom when they would all get together.

 Perez said she loved to cook, with homemade tortillas being one of her specialties. But more than that, she’s always loved pineapple upside down cake, and she made it for every barbecue and birthday party she hosted.

 “Oh, I love pineapple upside down cake,” she laughed. “My kids grew up with pineapple upside down cake and lemon pie. They all love to barbecue, so holidays were barbecuing and pineapple upside down cake.”

 Moving to Idaho within the last year, she eventually found her way to Weiser. Indianhead Estates staff have grown to love her, and she smiles when talking about how excited they all are about her birthday.

 She said the food is good, and “I’ve gained weight since I’ve been here.”

 “They make a good variety,” she said. “Every so often they give us peas, and I don’t like peas. But, I love pea soup.”

 Asked if she’s doing something special on her birthday, Andrea simply said, “No.”

 “They always make cakes for everybody on their birthday,” she said. “I can just see my cake all lit up with 100 candles. I want to tell them to get a one and two zeroes. If they put all those candles on, I’ll have to tell the lady across from me to help me blow them out.”

 The staff has arranged for a cake through Ridley’s, and they said the local grocery store is making it a donation.

 We at the Weiser Signal American wish Andrea a wonderfully happy 100th birthday.