Lolita Olaine turns 100 Lolita Olaine turns 100 (January 19, 2005)

Lolita Olaine celebrated her 100th birthday at a party at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park on Saturday; 120 people were in attendance for the festivities.

A current resident of Lytton Gardens in Palo Alto, Olaine is healthy and active and still has her driver's license.

But Olaine said, "My forgetter is getting better and better the older I get!"

Born Lolita Alice Jones on Jan.14, 1905 in the Los Angeles area, Olaine graduated from high school and worked as a commercial artist there for eight years before marrying Francis Samuel Olaine. The two moved to Palo Alto in 1941 and raised two sons, David and Norman, who both live in the Bay Area.

Olaine has held many personal art shows in this area, winning numerous awards for her desert, sea and mountain scenes. She managed the popular art on the mezzanine at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto for decades and, along with three other artists, ran a gallery for several years at the Allied Arts Guild.

While she no longer paints because of the limited space in her apartment, she is still active at First United Methodist Church.

Olaine's secret to longevity is exercise. "Don't lay around, for sure," she said.

A member of the Sierra Club for half a century along with her husband, Olaine was an avid hiker.

"We always loved the mountains. We liked to get out and hike. That's where I met my husband, on a hike," she said.

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