by Linda Cole
Ruth Purdon almost certainly is the longest living person in Manhattan Beach. And as a79 year resident, she may also have lived in town longer than anyone else.
Purdon was born on May 26, 1920. She had hoped to celebrate her 100th birthday last year, but the pandemic played party pooper. So this May 26, she will celebrate her 100th and her 101st birthdays.
Ruth and her husband Bill moved to Manhattan Beach from Minnosota shortly after marrying. While raising three daughters, she kept the books for the family’s Purdon Appliances, at 1817 Sepulveda Boulevard (today a Best Western hotel), and managed the apartments she and her husband built.
A December, 1957 Purdon’s newspaper ad promises, “Largest selection in the South Bay of Zenith, Packard-Bell, Motorola, Webcor, Olympic…”
Pony rides were offered across the street from Purdon’s. Ruth bought fish from fishermen who tied up at the end of the Manhattan pier. A train whistled through town each day.
In 1959 Ruth and Bill bought the community Congregational Church at 9th Street and Highland Avenue, and made it their home. The old church still has a steeple-shaped roof, and Ruth still lives there.
“A lot has changed, but life at the beach is still good,” she tells her friends and family. ER
