96-YEAR-OLD MOST SENIOR AT CITY'S SENIOR GAMES.

Byline: JASON KANDEL Staff Writer

BURBANK -- When Florence Munson sits down to play bridge this week at the 12th annual Burbank Senior Games, she'll bring with her more life -- and possibly bridge -- experience than any of her 27 competitors.

At 96, Munson is the oldest of the 300 participants in this year's event, and she's been playing bridge since before the stock market crashed in 1929.

``To play with her is a challenge. She knows exactly what she's doing,'' said Ruth Grayne, 79, a former bookkeeper from North Hollywood and one of the three organizers of the bridge event. ``She's a gambler. She knows how to play the game.''

But Munson is humble and deflects the limelight.

``We're playing for pure fun,'' said Munson, who's learned how to hold firm to her 13-card hand while being careful not to inflame her arthritic fingers. ``I love it. I get out. I love people who play bridge.''

The games, which include bowling, cribbage, a fun walk, golf, horseshoes, pool and softball, begin Monday and end Saturday.

Munson became the oldest contestant -- who actually put an age down on the entry form -- after 101-year-old Theodore Muller, a longtime bowler, had to back out.

``I broke my hip,'' said Muller, a retired gardener, from his Sun Valley home, where he was recovering with the aid of a caretaker. ``Maybe I can start up again in September. You have to get your balance.''

He wished Munson luck.

``That's pretty nice,'' he said when told she was the oldest member of the senior games this year. ``Keeps her mind going. You're lucky if you get that old.''

The senior games have been held for the past 15 years, and organizer Gayle Migden is impressed by the large number of seniors, some in their 80s and 90s and all over 55, who participate. She's especially pleased to see Munson in top form.

``It's remarkable,'' Migden said. ``She's a wonderful, nice, nice lady.''

Munson is a Long Beach native whose mother was a homemaker and whose father worked in the Navy shipyards in Wilmington during World War I.

During the early 1920s, her family moved to the Crescenta Valley. She was in the first class of students at what was then known as Glendale Junior College before going on to the University of California, Los Angeles, then dropping out in her senior year and getting married. Early on, she had dreams of becoming a chemist. She was good at math and science. She was married once, for 20 years, before getting divorced. She bore two sons, one who died in the 1970s and one who is a businessman in Massachusetts.

Munson, a retired Burbank school day-care instructor, has had a passion for cards since she first saw a pick-up game during her stint at Glendale Junior College in 1927. Over the years, she developed a keen sense of strategy and a great poker face, relying on her sharp wit and memory to defeat her competitors. As for the Senior Games, she said she hopes for the best.

``I've always enjoyed cards,'' she said. ``It's luck, luck. Luck and skill.''

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

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Florence Munson, 96, is a devoted bridge player and will be participating in the 12th annual Burbank Senior Games. Munson is the oldest of the 300 participants in this year's event.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer