'A CHARACTER' ALL THE WAY 'MAYME' RHINEHART, 105, LOVED TO KEEP BUSY, DRESS WELL.Byline: Holly J. Andres Staff Writer Mary Elizabeth ``Mayme'' Rhinehart worked until she was 84, drove until she was 97 and lived until she was 105 - a red-haired ``character'' who regaled her family with stories of times past. Rhinehart, a longtime San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. resident, died April 13 of congestive heart failure congestive heart failure, inability of the heart to expel sufficient blood to keep pace with the metabolic demands of the body. In the healthy individual the heart can tolerate large increases of workload for a considerable length of time. in Mission Hills. ``If someone asked her what was her secret to a long life, she said, 'I say the Lord's Prayer every night and I never drank or smoke,''' said her granddaughter, Bonnie Cox. ``She kept very active in her mind. Work was her life.'' Rhinehart was 84 and working 10 hours a day, six days a week, at Riverview Cleaners in Studio City, when a knee injury forced her to retire. She previously worked at Valley Pride Cleaners and as a switchboard operator at Maier Brewery in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , where she met her first husband, Trinidad ``Fred'' Fresenada. They were married in 1921, but Fresenada died a year later. She and her second husband, George Rhinehart, owned the Lark Cafe on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. . He died in 1930, and the restaurant closed in 1932. ``She was very honest and very independent,'' said great-granddaughter Kristen Mindock. ``She loved working and when she had to stop it bothered her.'' Rhinehart inherited her Scotland-born mother's red hair and freckles freckles Ephilides Brown macules, often exacerbated on sun-exposed zones of the skin surface, which disappear during the winter, and most commonly affecting the fair-skinned, especially of Celtic stock. See Macule. Cf Nevus. . She was careful not to go out in the sun too often and because of that, said Cox, she had very few wrinkles wrinkles See bells and whistles. as she aged. ```My gosh, she's so bright and alert. I can't believe it,' is what you would say if you had met her in recent years,'' Cox said. ``She always wanted to be dressed correctly. She always had her hair and nails done. ``She lived with us when I was growing up and I remember all the yellow boxes of Jean Nate that she would get as presents. She also liked White Shoulders perfume.'' Cox said her grandmother didn't have any hobbies nor was she a member of any church, but she loved to read the National Enquirer En`quir´er n. 1. See Inquirer. Noun 1. enquirer - someone who asks a question asker, inquirer, querier, questioner and watch ``Oprah.'' ``She was a character. She was living in Northridge when the earthquake happened. She told us she took two Valiums and went back to sleep,'' said Cox. ``She said whatever came into her mind. She was loving and caring. She had some great stories.'' Mary Elizabeth Austin
Elizabeth Austin is a writer living in Oak Park, Illinois. Austin has lived in the Midwestern United States all her life. was born Nov. 28, 1899, in Nanaimo, Canada, one of three children born to Mary and Edward Austin. Her father was killed in a mining accident when she was 16. She lived in Seattle and San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden until moving to Los Angeles in 1921. Rhinehart was preceded in death by her daughters, Barbara ``Bobby'' Herron and Kathryn Joy Schlickenmyer. She is survived by eight grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and 19 great-great-grandchildren. A private family service will be held. Holly Andres, (818) 713-3708 holly.andres(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: RHINEHART |
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