Man, 102, Marks Birthday With Swim at Club

Pushing his walker, Lee Ogden arrived at the health club Sunday for his daily soak in the hot tub. This time, he was greeted with a surprise: a birthday cake topped with strawberries, balloons and a box wrapped in a green bow--his present for turning 102.

As the staffers at the Pierpont Racquet Club finished singing “Happy Birthday,” Ogden warned, “I’ll have more of them.”

Ventura resident Ogden had come to the club for part of the regimen of activity that has helped him pass the century mark.

“He’s 102, and he comes to the club every day--he’s amazing,” said 19-year-old club employee Aunkia Stratton of Ventura.

Ogden, a former junior high school principal in Ventura, used to swim in the ocean for exercise. For the last 14 years, however, he has used the club pool to walk laps in the water.

“It’s just a nice feeling, the water,” he said later, leaning his head back against the edge of the hot tub. “I try to do as much as I can do without hurting myself.”

As a young man growing up in Nebraska, Ogden used to run track. He particularly liked pole vaulting, although he said he never got much above 13 feet.

Ogden graduated from a small Nebraska college in 1917, then headed west to Stanford University for his master’s degree.

He said Sunday he no longer remembers when he first arrived in Ventura to accept a job with the school district, although he had already worked as a school administrator in Northern California. He retired about 30 years ago after teaching English and history and serving as the principal of Ventura Junior High, now Cabrillo Middle School.

He lives with granddaughter Leslie Ogden and her husband, Ventura Councilman Steve Bennett. Leslie Ogden said in spite of her grandfather’s age, his mind is still sharp enough to whip most opponents in checkers.

“We don’t have anyone who can beat him in our house,” she said. “He’s a mean checkers player. And he can barely see the board.”

Ogden said that activities like his daily trips to the Ventura pool have contributed to his staying power.

“You look around, there’s a lot of older people, 18 to 20 years younger [than me], who don’t have a lot of drive,” he said. “The main thing is to keep busy.”

Stratton said she found Ogden an inspiration. “I hope I can be like him at any age, active and friendly,” she said. “There’s a lot of people who just sit in bed and are grumpy.”