Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 30, 2016

3

Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 30, 2016 


Walking Sierra Madre…The Social Side 

by Deanne Davis


“What could be more beautiful than a dear lady 
growing wise with age? Every age can be enchanting, 
provided you live within it.” 

Brigitte Bardot

“Angel On Duty!” That’s what it says on the sign 
outside Ann Tyler’s lovely apartment, where she’s 
lived since 1972. When I heard that Ann had been 
voted Sierra Madre’s 2016 Older American of the 
Year, I was absolutely delighted as she is a witty, 
bright, charming person.

 I first met Ann in June of 2014. She had turned 
90 the October before and celebrated by doing 
her second zip-line run in Icy Strait Point, Alaska, 
located on Chichagof Island, 1.5 miles away from 
the Alaska town of Hoonah, which is a cruise ship 
stop between Juneau and Ketchikan. 

 The Icy Strait Point folks advertise their zip-line 
as being “the world’s largest,” 5,330 feet long, a 
1,300 foot vertical drop, 60 mph maximum speed, 
300 feet from the ground at the highest point (taller 
than the Empire State Building) and it’s a real fast 
1.5 minute ride with six cables shooting fearless zip-
liners down simultaneously. Ann Tyler did it and 
enjoyed every minute. But this was old news to her, 
she’s done it before in Alaska. Her son told her she 
had to go so he wouldn’t be scared. We won’t say 
who did the screaming, but it wasn’t Ann!

 Ann’s an inveterate world traveler, having taken 
twelve cruises with her son and his wife. She’s been 
four times to Alaska, all over Europe – Amsterdam, 
Russia, the Caribbean, Hawaii. Now she has a 
season pass to Disneyland and will be going there 
soon.

 That’s not all Ann’s got going…she is currently 
President of the Priscilla Club, the oldest social 
club in Sierra Madre, which started in 1906. The 
Priscillas are ladies who meet monthly to visit and 
are involved with local charities. She’s the one 
remaining Honorary Charter member of the Civic 
Club, past President of the Women’s Club and she 
has been a serious knitter, making chemo caps for 
our Veterans.

 To give you a little of her history, Ann was born in 
Long Beach and she and her family moved to Sierra 
Madre the day after the Long Beach earthquake 
in 1933, to join her aunt. Ann graduated from St. 
Rita’s, spent some time in Jr. College in Pasadena 
and married her husband, James Bryce Tyler, in 
1941 when she was 17. They had been married 61 
years when James passed away in 2002. Some of 
you may remember James was Fire Chief here for a 
while. James was also Older American of the Year in 
1999. Ann and James had six children; their oldest 
died at just 3-1/2 and their daughter passed away 
at an early age, leaving three sons who came to live 
with Ann and James. She had 9 boys at the table! 
Having fed and put shoes on 9 growing boys was 
probably far more of an adventure than zip-lining 
in Alaska at 90. Ann’s cruising buddy son, lives in 
Georgia and tells her he expects her to live to 100. 
Another son is a resident of West Covina, a third 
is in La Verne and one of her three nephews is in 
Azusa.

 Ann says that the changes she’s seen in her 
beloved Sierra Madre have been mostly for good. 
Of course, kids all walked to school in her day and 
played outside till dark. Seems she was always the 
daring one, mentioning that she once walked across 
the dam to impress a boy! 

 Ann greatly admired Louis Zamperini’s World 
War II story of survival, resilience and forgiveness 
as related in Lauren Hillenbrand’s book, 
“Unbroken.” We also reminisced about another of 
our beloved local authors, Fay Angus, who passed 
away this past February. Fay was the author of “The 
White Pagoda” which detailed her experiences as a 
young girl surviving in a Japanese prison camp in 
Yangchow, China during World War II.

 A cockatiel added his comments to our 
conversation from time to time as he watched from 
his cage close by. Her favorite job, which she started 
after she was 50, was working as a medical assistant, 
where she had opportunities to be a listening ear and 
a comforting hand to patients who needed someone 
to care. Some health difficulties have slowed Ann 
down a bit, but she is definitely planning to ride in 
our July 4th parade and is already practicing her 
“queen’s” wave.

 A reception hosted by the Sierra Madre 
Community Services Department and the Sierra 
Madre Senior Community Commission honoring 
Ann will be held on Friday, May 13th from 4:30 
to 6:00 p.m. at the Hart Park House Senior Center 
in Memorial Park. RSVP to Cherry Liu at 626-
355-7394 or cliu@cityofsierramadre.com Plan to 
go and meet Sierra Madre’s lovely, gracious Older 
American of the Year, Ann Tyler. You’ll be glad you 
did.

 “A Tablespoon of Love, A Tablespoon of 
Laughter.” 

 My own personal book, is available on Amazon.
com 

 Take a look! Makes a great gift and Mother’s Day 
is coming up!

 You might like my blog, too: www.authordeanne.
com

SIERRA MADRE GARDEN CLUB – 

MONDAY MAY 9, 2016

BUTTERFLIES

Come to the Garden Club meeting on May 9th and 
learn about California native butterflies, the plants 
they use as larval hosts, as well as the best native 
plants to attract native butterflies to your garden. 
In spite of extensive urban sprawl, Southern 
California has many species of butterflies that are 
fairly abundant and easily attracted to flowers or 
food plants in local gardens. Also learn about the 
butterfly pavilion at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic 
Garden in Claremont. 

 Guest Speaker, Bryce Kunzel is the Manager 
of Education Programs at Rancho Santa Ana 
Botanic Gardens. At RSA, Bryce is responsible for 
coordinating public classes and field trips, school 
tours and community outreach as well as special 
events such as the very popular butterfly pavilion. 
Prior to working at RSA Bryce was a Field Biologist 
for several National Parks in Northern California 
and and southern Oregon. He has over 15 years of 
plant related experience.

 MARK YOUR CALENDAR. Everyone is 
invited. Dinner begins at 6:30 P.M.; followed by 
the program at 7:15 P.M. Catered dinner is $11; 
reservations for dinner must be made by May 6th 
by calling 626-485-8032. There is no charge for 
attending only the program. Location: Hart Park 
House, Memorial Park, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., 
Sierra Madre. For information call the reservation 
number or visit www.smgarden.org


SHARE SOME 

GOOD NEWS! 

 “The Kindness of Strangers” feature encourages readers 
to share their stories. I can assure you, they will be 
uplifting especially in contrast to all the the challenges 
and issues we have to deal with daily. So, if you have 
something you would like to share, please submit it to: 
editor@mtnviewsnews.com. It doesn’t matter where you 
were or when it happened. Share your good expeiences in hope that it might bring a little joy and/
or inspire someone.

 -Susan Henderson, Editor/Publisher MVNews


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com