Ventura Woman ‘Senior of the Year’

Dorothy Schupbach of Ventura has been named Senior of the Year by the Area Agency on Aging, the Ventura Senior Coordinating Council and the city of Ventura’s Senior Services.

Ventura Mayor Jim Friedman presented Schupbach with the award last week at a reception and discussion of what the future holds for the 104,000 senior citizens in Ventura County.

“Dorothy has been on the Senior Coordinating Council since its inception,” he said.

Schupbach, 71, serves on a panel that advises the Ventura City Council on senior affairs. She also volunteers dozens of hours weekly with the Humane Society, Caregivers, the Ventura County Medical Center and RSVP in Oxnard.

After the ceremony, Fernando Torres-Gil, who directs the policy center on aging at UCLA and who organized the 1995 White House Conference on Aging, spoke about what today’s seniors and the next generation of seniors--baby boomers--can expect.

“We’ll soon be living to 100 years of age,” Torres-Gil told the mostly older audience. “Centenarians are the fastest-growing segment of the population.”

When an audience member asked him how one should plan for a longer life span, he said, “I think in 20 years or so, retirement will become obsolete.”

That is not just because people will not be able to afford to retire, he said, but as life expectancy increases, people will feel healthier longer and will decide to remain more active.

While the big question for seniors today is over Social Security and whether it should be privatized with a higher age of eligibility, Torres-Gil said he sees another “great debate” down the road.

In response to a question on whether Medicare will ever include long-term home care, he said, “Right now, long-term care at home is provided by one’s family--by women, specifically.

“But I believe this lack will radicalize baby boomers in 10 or 15 years. Long-term care will become our defining issue.”