Smith: Sonoma County's oldest residents share birth date

Art Janssen, 105, and Ann Beach Burrow, 109, are the oldest man and woman in Sonoma County, both with birthdays on Oct. 23.|
CHRIS SMITH
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Who celebrated their birthdays on Thursday? You won't believe who.

I wrote a bit last week about Santa Rosa native Art Janssen and his turning 105. Born Oct. 23 of 1909, the former Metropolitan Life executive and mayor of Sebastopol celebrated at a small but sweet party at a care home in the Bennett Valley neighborhood.

Nearby, also on the 23rd, Bennett Valley community pillar Ann Beach Burow marked the anniversary of her birth.

Ann belongs to the large and prominent Pisenti family that first appeared in Santa Rosa in the 1870s and settled en masse in 1922. As a young woman, Ann helped run a dairy on what's now Summerfield Road and later she worked many years in the county Elections Department.

She turned 109 Thursday.

It appears Ann is the oldest woman in Sonoma County, and Art the oldest man. What do you supposes are the chances that they'd be born on the same day of the year?

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor