Three Chosen Nonagenarians and One Icon

According to ucihealth.org, there are approximately 2 million nonagenarians in the US presently, and growing! Three of my favorites are: Jane Goodall, Clint Eastwood, and Dorsey Lou Woliver.

Jane Goodall is known for her years of living among chimpanzees in Tanzania to create one of the most trailblazing studies of primates in modern times.

Goodall was born on April 3, 1934, in London, England, and in 1960, set out to Tanzania to study wild chimpanzees. She immersed herself in their lives, bypassing more rigid procedures to make discoveries about primate behavior that have continued to shape scientific discourse. A highly respected member of the world scientific community, she advocates for ecological preservation through the Jane Goodall Institute.

In recognition of her achievements, Goodall has received numerous honors and awards, including the Gold Medal of Conservation from the San Diego Zoological Society in 1974, the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize in 1984, the Schweitzer Medal of the Animal Welfare Institute in 1987, the National Geographic Society Centennial Award in 1988, and the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences in 1990. More recently, she was named a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations in 2002, and a Dame of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II of England in 2003.

Goodall and Eastwood in a chat.

Actor Clint Eastwood, born on May 31, 1930, got his big break with a starring role on the television program Rawhide. He then became immensely popular by portraying tough characters in a string of Sergio Leone movie Westerns and the Dirty Harry franchise. Eastwood has since earned widespread praise for directing such Academy Award-winning films as Unforgiven, Mystic River, and Million Dollar Baby.

Clint Eastwood has been such a familiar force in American cinema for so long that it’s easy to think you’ve got him figured out. Yet here he is again, at 94, with a low-key, genuine shocker, “Juror #2,” the 42nd movie that he’s directed and a lean-to-the-bone, tough-minded ethical showdown that says something about the law, personal morality, the state of the country and, I’m guessing, how he feels about the whole shebang. He seems riled up, to judge from the anger that simmers through the movie, which centers on a struggle to find justice within — though perhaps despite — an imperfect system and in the face of towering self-interest.

Known as a maverick and somewhat of a rebel, Eastwood opined, “I guess I would like to be interpreted as a liberal Libertarian, like leave everybody alone and let them do their own thing.”

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Dorsey Lou Justice Woliver was born on March 11, 1931 in Knoxville, Tennessee and lived her entire life in greater Knoxville. In 1951, she married Charles L. Woliver and they had three sons: Charles Patrick Woliver, Kim Adrian Woliver, and Adam Lorne Woliver. I am proud to be my Mother’s oldest son!

Mother’s profession was referred to as a “Homemaker” and her responsibilities were as a housekeeper, a house manager, a cook, a nurse, caregiving for her husband and three sons, and all things domestic.

Somehow she was able to complete all her work and still have time to play with her boys. I remember her sledding with us in the Winter, playing whiffle ball with us in the Summer, catching tadpoles with us in the Spring, and jumping in piles of leaves with us in the Fall.

Dorsey was a caregiver, and during and after her sons left the household, she took care of her mother (Lucinda), her mother-in-law (Leona), her sister (Billie), and lastly her elderly husband (Charles) until his death in 2017.

Known as an avid sports fan, Dorsey enjoys baseball, football, and basketball. Above all, she is an ardent Atlanta Braves fan. She currently dazzles the residents of her assisted living community by displaying her Braves attire including her infamous shoes.