Summary:
Marge Dubbs was interviewed by Andree Hurst on May 9, 2024. Now at age 100, Marge has spent just over half of her life as a Lafayette resident. Her husband was a mechanical and safety engineer who traveled for work most of the time. Marge worked also, but always locally. She made use of the Lafayette-Moraga Trail, which was close to her house, both for trips to work and to the town, and also for recreation. She walked three miles a day for years, sometimes struggling to avoid being pushed off the trail by bicyclists. She credits this exercise with helping her reach the milestone age of 100.
Oral History:
Marge Dubbs: Hello.
Andree Hurst: Hello, Marge. This is Andree Hurst calling from the Lafayette Historical Society. How are you today?
MD: I am good. How are you?
AH: I’m good. It’s a beautiful day out there.
MD: Oh, it looks beautiful. It does.
AH: I stuck my toe out when I let the dog out, and it felt pretty warm.
MD: Oh, did you stub your toe?
AH: No, I put my toe out the door to see what the weather was like when I let the dog out.
MD: Oh, yes. Oh, I see. And it was good.
AH: It was good.
MD: Last.
AH: Well, thank you for talking with us today. Do I have your permission to record the call for the Lafayette Historical Society?
MD: Sure. You’re not going to ask me anything that I probably don’t know.
AH: No. Nothing like that. We will keep it, you know, you tell me when you are ready to say goodbye. You can just say, well, thank you very much, you know.
MD: Oh, no, no, no, honey. I’ll do my best. I hope I remember.
AH: Okay.
MD: I am 100.
AH: That’s wonderful. Congratulations.
MD: Thank you.
AH: All right, let’s start from the top. I will introduce us. Okay. This is Andree Hurst with the Lafayette Historical Society’s Oral History Project, talking today to Marge Dubbs. Am I saying that correctly, Marge?
MD: Yes, you are.
AH: Well, why don’t we start with, you are 100 years old. Congratulations. When was your birthday?
MD: 12/17/1923.
AH: Wow. And how long have you lived in Lafayette?
MD: About 47 years.
AH: So just about half of your life.
MD: I guess so, yes.
AH: Well, where were you originally born?
MD: I was born in Toledo, Ohio.
AH: And how did you find your way to Lafayette?
MD: Well, there was a great big Depression. And my father lost his job, which was in Detroit, which is Toledo is very close to Detroit, 60 miles difference. And he heard, my father heard that they were hiring people that did what he did in California. So he came out to California and went in and said he was looking for a job. And they said, come in tomorrow, you’re hired.
AH: That’s fantastic.
MD: Isn’t it?
AH: Yeah! What were your early years in Lafayette like or your mid years, I should say?
MD: I’ve had numerous neighbors and every last one of them has been nice.
AH: Where do you live? What neighborhood?
MD: I don’t know what the neighborhood is called, but it’s on Hope Lane.
AH: Hope Lane?
MD: Hope Lane, yeah. And now one of my neighbors, her daddy was the butcher in town.
AH: Oh, that’s interesting.
MD: And she was my age, of course.
AH: Yeah.
MD: that neighbor.
AH: And how old were you when you moved to Lafayette? So that was 47 years ago, you said?
MD: No, I must have moved here in the early 50s.
AH: Do you remember roughly how old you were at that time?
MD: Well, let me see. I was, I’m born in 1923. And I said I got here in the 50s.
AH: Yeah. Like, uh, like, where’s our math today? Around 25.
MD: Yeah, am I right?
AH: 28. Well, you were very young then.
MD: Well, I was not 25. I had to be older than 25.So I had to be because I got married and then I moved to San Diego and then I moved to Sacramento. Then I moved to Lafayette.
AH: Okay. So maybe a little bit later.
MD: I would say early 30s.
AH: Okay. And so you were married when you arrived here?
MD: Yes.
AH: And what was it like when you came here with your husband?
MD: It’s a lovely, lovely street and all the neighbors were delightful and I loved it.
AH: Do you still live in the same house?
MD: Yes.
AH: Wow. That’s wonderful.
MD: And I have the same dust. No.
AH: Your humor is intact.
MD: Yeah.
AH: Um, is your husband still alive?
MD: No, he is not. He’s been dead about seven years.
AH: What was his name?
MD: Bill. William.
AH: William Dubbs. Did you have any children here?
MD: No, I did not. I never did have children.
AH: Um, did you have, what did you and your husband do for work?
MD: My husband was a mechanical engineer and a safety engineer. Traveled extensively the world over.
AH: Wow. Did you ever go, go with him on business trips?
MD: Yes.
AH: That must have been fun.
MD: Um, it might sound like fun, but it was horrible because, you know, he went up and he got up and went out to work. And I said, would you like to go with me today? And I would say yes or no. And, uh, and if I said no, then, um, I was lonely all day long.
AH: Sure.
MD: Oh, not too lonely. I’d take a trip someplace, you know, um, you, like, like again, a trip to see the place.
AH: What were some of your favorite, when you were in Lafayette with your husband or alone, what were some of your favorite activities that you’d like to do back
when you were young?
MD: Well, I got a job. Now my husband never wanted me to work, but I, I was just bored, bored to death. And so I got a good job and I loved the job.
AH: What did you do?
MD: Uh, County.
AH: Ah, was that in, in, in town here or somewhere else?
MD: Oh, no, in Oakland.
AH: Oh, okay. So at that time, did you drive to get to work? Because the BART wasn’t here yet, right?
MD: Ah, yes, the BART came. So, oh, my husband was the first one to drive for the BART under the, under the sea.
AH: Oh, really?
MD: With the, um, a, you know, with passengers.
AH: Sure. What was that like?
MD: Well, for him, it was exciting.
AH: Yeah. So you were working through the tunnel yourself and, um,
MD: I worked in a, I worked in a, um, in a shop, um, um, Photoshop in, in Oakland.
AH: Okay. I’m just curious what the transportation was like back then, your earliest memories of, let’s say the highway or the BART line, that type of thing.
MD: Okay. Uh, the, uh, when we moved here, there was a path down at the end of this street. And the path, you could go to the, to the city, to the city of, uh, Hall or, or, or the Safeway or that sort of thing. And, uh, and, and if my car wasn’t running or the glass door wouldn’t go up or something like that, then I had to walk to BART. But, uh, I had a neighbor that would see me go by and he would say, Marge, do you need a ride to BART? Yeah. Yes, I do. Awkward.
AH: You do.
MD: And then I said, well, now, uh, we have a, I have a problem. Uh, how are you going to take me? Well, you want to go on the back of my new Harley or do you want to go on the caddy? Today I’m wearing long pants. I want to go on the, on the back of the Harley.
AH: Well, that sounds like fun.
MD: It was. I’m with, with my neighbor and that was fun.
AH: What other kinds of things did you do for fun? Were there your favorite restaurants that you went to eat dinner at? Or what were some of your favorite things to do?
MD: Well, I, I would, I would, there was certainly when my husband, my husband traveled, he traveled a lot. And when he was home, we, we had certain ones that he liked, you know, and so that’s where we went. And I was, well, there’s one in town, I can’t remember the name of it, it’s gone now, but it was very good. And they specialized in chicken dinners.
AH: There was one that had a Tiki theme. I don’t know if it was still there when you moved to town.
MD: The what? A scene?
AH: Tiki, like a Hawaiian Tiki kind of a feel to it.
MD: No, no, no, I don’t remember that one.
AH: Okay. Now, what was Mount Diablo Boulevard like in your earliest memories?
MD: Not very much different than it is now.
AH: Were there fewer stoplights in traffic, I imagine?
MD: Yes, there were, there were fewer. Well, almost no difference, any. But the stoplights are where they are right now. And you have to stop to get to downtown. And if I didn’t have a ride to work, I had to walk or to BART.
AH: Sure. Let’s see, what else can I ask you? I’m curious about the Park Theatre. What was that like? Did you like to go there to watch movies?
MD: Yes, but not to freak out. My husband liked movies, but I was not so good. I could go to the movies and then be asleep in about five minutes.
AH: Now, what about school? Did you attend any schools? In terms of high school, college, that kind of thing, and where?
MD: I went to Pasadena J.C., two years, and UCLA, two years.
AH: Oh, okay. And then you came up here. Let’s see, did you belong to any clubs?
MD: No, I was not a club person. When I got married, my husband informed me that I would never have to work a day in my life if I didn’t want to because he was going to bring home the bacon.
AH: And you said, well, I want one.
MD: If that may be very boring, and I don’t know if I can do that.
AH: What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in Lafayette over the years?
MD: Well, where I live, not much because when the people move here, they stay here. You know, the people across the street from me, they have been here many years. The ones next door are the third ones since I’ve lived here. And they were very friendly. They were friendly like, how are you, but not inviting you for dinner or anything like that, nothing.
AH: Yeah, yeah. Let’s see now. Do you have, I’m just thinking about some things that came into the town. Well, what about the reservoir? Do you remember, you know, when that became a park and people could actually go up there and walk around it?
MD: I had a mother-in-law that I had to take care of for 18 years, and she lived near the reservoir. And I walked every morning to the reservoir and around it.
AH: How about that?
MD: How about that? And when I didn’t do that, I walked the path down at the ends of the street. And then I even, I had written, I worked for a man who had a store in Oakland. And then I, he would, he was trying to get the people in Lafayette to make the path that would go all the way to Moraga. And he made it.
AH: Oh, from the, from the reservoir?
MD: Yeah, from the reservoir.
AH: Is there a path?
MD: No, I know, but it starts at the end of my street or a little before.
AH: Do you ever walk up in there?
MD: Sure.
AH: So what’s the secret to living to 100, walking a lot?
MD: That’s what my doctors told me, because I walk three miles every morning.
AH: Now, when did you stop doing that?
MD: See, probably, I fell and broke a hip.
AH: Oh. But you walked three miles every morning before that?
MD: Yes, for many years.
AH: Wow.
MD: Sometimes more because I, sometimes, you know, if the garage door wouldn’t go up or, or the car wouldn’t start or something. And my husband was, I did travel constantly, almost. And then I would have to walk to work, walk to the, to the BART.
AH: Sure. I’m looking here on Hope Lane in Lafayette. And you’re off of St. Mary’s Road. I’m just staying here, kind of like, oh, you know what? We live pretty close together because I’m off of St. Mary’s Road too.
MD: Oh, you are? Where?
AH: Well, very close to you. You know where the baseball field is?
MD: Yeah, at the school.
AH: Yeah.
MD: Oh, sure. That’s just about two blocks away from me.
AH: Yeah, very close.
MD: Yeah.
AH: And then I also like to ride my bike on the bike path. Do you walk on the bike path?
MD: I walked it for years, honey.
AH: I guess I shouldn’t call it a bike path. It’s a multi-use path.
MD: Well, in my actions, I walked that path for, I don’t know how many years. I would say that it is a multi-use path. But the worst thing is the men about, what would they be? They’re in their late 30s, early 40s, and they like to ride four across,
and they don’t want to be disturbed.
AH: Well, they also ride very fast.
MD: And they go very fast.
AH: Yeah.
MD: And they collided. He did not collided with the wrong word. With me, they just, they would not break their walking. You can get in the mud, lady.
AH: Oh, my goodness. Now, I’m curious.
MD: But I worked for the men. They got the path through, and nobody wanted that path. Let me tell you.
AH: Let’s talk about that. That’s interesting. What are your memories of before? Were there train tracks there when you moved into the house?
MD: Well, they used to. My neighbor told me, because she was born and lived here. But that path, they had a girl walked on the end of her plane, and they had to go up toward you, probably your house there. And then they had to get on the train, and then they had to go to, what is a big city?
AH: Oakland, or Walnut Creek, which direction?
MD: Walnut Creek. Okay.
AH: Yeah.
MD: I don’t think they went to school in Walnut Creek, but they went to school someplace. Must have been Walnut Creek.
AH: So now the tracks came out, and then tell me about your memories of any of that period, the tracks coming out?
MD: The track thing was a big fight. Nobody wanted the track. It was going to, they said that we don’t want the track because we don’t want people walking behind our yards, and our property is not going to be worth anything.
AH: Oh, they did not want the path?
MD: They did not want the path. Or the path was there, it’s still going to be there. They just didn’t want it paved.
AH: Did you, and you liked the idea of there being a walking path there?
MD: Oh, I certainly did. I walked it for many years, like 20.
AH: And so were you involved in helping to get that path created?
MD: Yes, but only through my boss who was interested in it, and so therefore I was interested in the path because I walked to work. If my car, it wasn’t running, or the garage door wouldn’t go up.
AH: I see. Wow. Yeah, it’s a pretty convenient path.
MD: Oh, it is. And it’s still the same way. So those men would go four across on bicycles, and will they move?
AH: No. Did you remember when there were more horses on the path?
MD: Yes. As a matter of fact, when I fed a horse every morning, and I talked the guy down at Safeway into saving his bad apples and he couldn’t sell because they were too old, and he would give me all the apples and stuff like that. And every morning I would walk, and when I stepped my foot on that path, here on Hope Lane, those horses were neighing.
AH: Oh.
MD: And the man had two horses. He told me that he bought horses for he and his daughter because his daughter was bored, but then she found boys and she wasn’t bored anymore, and he was stuck with two horses.
AH: There are some pastures and old barns, little barns down that way, that no longer have horses, but they’re kind of down where the power lines are. Do you know what I’m talking about?
MD: Yes. I think they’re about two and a half blocks from me.
AH: Is that where the horses used to be?
MD: Yes, there were horses there. Now there are only two horses.
AH: I guess there are a lot more horses in town back in the 50s.
MD: Oh, wow. Well, I don’t walk the path anymore because I’m 100.
AH: I never see horses out there.
MD: No, I don’t think you would anymore.
AH: It looks the same, I bet.
MD: The path? Well, it’s better because it’s paved.
AH: Oh.
MD: Well, it didn’t used to be paved. You were walking in mud if it rained.
AH: Oh. I think that happened back in the 70s.
MD: Yes.
AH: I’m not 100% sure about that, but I seem to remember.
MD: One day I was walking, and I don’t know remember when, but the path was there. And there was this horrible name behind me and all this noise. And I turned around and there was this man being thrown off his horse. And the horse is trying to get in my pocket. So I’m saying to the man, is this an horse named Future? Yes. Future knows me. I fed him an apple every morning. And he was going to go through my pockets for that apple. And that was 10 years later.
AH: Sure. Wow. Where did you or do you go grocery shopping?
MD: I usually shopped at either Safeway, Moraga, or Safeway Lafayette.
AH: Yeah.
MD: Or what is the name of the other store? I went there a lot.
AH: Oh, the Diablo Foods?
MD: Oh, I went there a lot, yeah. And I also went to the one that’s… I don’t know what the name of it is.
AH: Trader Joe’s, maybe?
MD: No, no, no, no, no. Not Trader Joe’s. But you would know. It’s a nice store. And it would be standing looking at the store that sells clothing and all. It would be to your right.
AH: Oh, Whole Foods.
MD: Whole Foods, yes. Yeah.
AH: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
MD: Yeah.
AH: I’m just looking here to see when Safeway came to Lafayette.
MD: It was here when I came.
AH: Okay. So it’s in there. What else can I ask you? Do you have anything you want to talk about? I don’t have… The only complaint I ever had was with young…people in their 30s or late 20s, men. And they would not… They would ride their bicycles four across, and then you have to step in the mud or get the hell out. This is what… Hey, they would not stop.
MD: They would not stop.
AH: That really… Yeah, that’s not pleasant.
MD: No, it was not. So I did help myself that way by carrying a stick. That they thought might go into their bicycles, which is what I had in mind.
AH: That’ll get them to move over. So, Marge, you live at home, and that’s lovely. I’m glad to hear that you still enjoy your home. Do you have any fruit trees?
MD: No, not at all. I have one tree here. Just one fruit tree.
AH: Yeah, I know sometimes. Lemons or that kind of thing.
MD: Yeah, but the lemons are not very big. But I get lemons every year.
AH: Yeah, I love the Meyer lemons.
MD: Good.
AH: I just made a blueberry pie. The blueberries are coming in.
MD: Oh, boy, there’s always a big fight for them, and you get them off the path a lot.
AH: Oh, really?
MD: Yeah. There are a lot of blueberry trees. Well, in somebody’s yard, but they’re hanging out over the fence.
AH: Yeah. How bout that. Now, do you have any photographs in a photo album that maybe we could come over and take some pictures of? Because sometimes they like to have photos.
MD: Oh, I know. I worked for a camera company, and I never took any.
AH: Oh, no, really?
MD: Yes.
AH: Well, I could come take a picture of you. Would you like that?
MD: No, I’d scare everybody.
AH: No. Come on, it’s something to be proud of to live a good life.
MD: Yes, I really have. I really have had a wonderful life. I have. And a wonderful marriage that makes a good life.
AH: You know, right up until seven years ago. That’s great. When my mother passed away, my father died before her, and she said it wasn’t supposed to be this way. We were supposed to die at the same time. She didn’t like that he left first.
MD: No, I understand. Yes, it’s sad, honey.
AH: Yeah.
MD: You do as you like. You can sit and weep, or you can try and think of something very pleasant.
AH: Yes, something else to do. Do you like to have plants?
MD: I can’t do anything anymore. I am a hundred. My chief thing to do now is to walk around the house. And I have to do that three times a day and take ten steps three times. Ten steps to make the rounds. I have a kind of like a walk around here. I can go through the kitchen and then the family room and then the living room back to the kitchen that way.
AH: Sure, sure.
MD: And I do that. I try to do that three times a day.
AH: Yeah. You’ve always been a big walker.
MD: I have always walked, yes. I can remember when I went to a doctor, when I first moved first moved here and gave him my address and he said, I used to live in that house.
AH: Really?
MD: I said, well, why did you move? He said, I moved because I got so many kids that we didn’t fit in the house anymore.
AH: Now, what is your address on Hope Lane?
MD: 832.
AH: 832? Okay.
MD: The first house on the right.
AH: Okay. That’s convenient. At least you don’t live on Topper with all the school traffic. You live right next door, but not on the main road.
MD: Yeah, I know. I don’t hear it. And I, you know, however, you know, that nobody has used that path more than I have.
AH: So there’s a path that goes from your house over?
MD: No, just the street goes down and ends at the path.
AH: Oh, I see what you’re saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, what was your favorite way to go left or right on the path?
MD: I didn’t make any difference. If I were going to go to downtown Lafayette, then I would go to my left. And if I were not going, I was going to Moraga, I’d go to my right.
AH: Yeah. That’s a nice hike to Moraga.
MD: And to this day, the ladies here that are near me push me now as far as Moraga mostly.
AH: Wow.
MD: Wow, that’s right.
AH: Well, next time I see somebody in a wheelchair I’ll stop and say hi.
MD: Yeah, right.
AH: It’s just nice to get out in the fresh air though.
MD: It is. And you know, we’re out here on the other side of the, going here, you know, not right, but left. That hill is steep. It’s a 7% grade, I think.
AH: Oh, you mean the one when you go past where?
MD: Well, where the, what is it?
AH: Activity center for.
MD: Well, they’re not activity center, but water thing. Water. I think it’s a water tank or something, something big.
AH: Oh, a water tank.
MD: Yeah.
AH: Yeah, yeah. Oh, I know what you’re talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That hill, yeah.
MD: Oh, yeah. That is a steep hill.
AH: You’re going to have to get an electric wheelchair.
MD: You know, well, I’ve got two people who push. I am not going to tell them.
AH: I have an electric bike. And when I hit a hill, it helps you.
MD: Oh, you are cheating. You got an electric bike.
AH: That’s what my sister says. But I’m like, I’m still biking for eight miles. Doesn’t that count for anything? It’s heavier.
MD: It only counts for half.
AH: It counts for half. That’s about right. Cause you can’t. I, half the time I don’t use the power, but if I hit a huge hill,
I will help. I get a little assistance.
MD: Oh, well, if you don’t use the power, power, and now I feel sorry for you. But if you use the power, I wouldn’t feel a bit.
AH: Yeah. Anyhow, well, Marge, it’s been lovely to talk with you today.
MD: Oh, it’s nice talking to you too, honey. And since you’re only about two, two and a half blocks away, drop by.
AH: Oh, yes. I’ll come by and say hi sometime. All right. Well, thank you so much.
MD: Do you and your husband use the path a lot?
AH: We bike the path a lot.
MD: We bike it.
AH: Yeah.
MD: That’s great. That’s really great.
AH: But I, I go slow when I’m approaching people from behind and I always tell them I’m coming in. You know, I’d be courteous.
MD: You have run into the men. I know you have. They ride four abreast. Yeah. You know, they don’t move.
AH: I don’t know. Well, if you, if you hold your course. I just hold my course and they do move. Somebody said, if you look past them and you hold your course, you know, they’ll move over.
MD: What I did is I took a long.
AH: I’m going to, Otherwise I’m going to be in the weeds, you know, and I can’t, you know, that’ll, I can’t afford to fall off.
MD: Talking about weeds, the weeds are awfully high. And how do we get them cut?
AH: I don’t know. How do they? You never.
MD: You know, it will be, according to the man that I used to work for, I complained to him and I, and it would happen, but now he’s gone dead and gone. And I don’t know that, but the weeds are really high. High as your head almost.
AH: Yeah. I do bring sometimes a clipper. If there’s, if there’s a bush. That’s coming out into the path around a corner. I’ll bring a clipper and clip it just so people don’t, you know,
MD: Yeah, good for you. Yeah. That’s good. But the path is just, it turned out to be wonderful.
AH: Oh yeah. It’s, it’s such a positive now after all that fuss.
MD: It goes all the way to, to the college.
AH: Yeah. That’s right. It goes even farther than that. It goes down now to the Commons. Okay.
MD: Goes all the way to Maraga.
AH: Yeah. There’s a little place down there called CC’s cafe. We ride our bikes there and on a Saturday they have music and you sit out in back by that umbrella and you have a cup of coffee. Yeah. That’s that’s nice.
MD: Yeah. You know, this, it’s one, it’s no wonder that you know, moving around here because it’s a perfect area. You can walk to any place you want to go. You can walk to town. You can, you can do anything you want to do. Walk to all the way to Moraga and, you know, and the people that take care of me and yesterday they walked me all the way to Moraga. I have to be in a wheelchair, but they don’t.
AH: Wow. And, and what do you think about young people today? Do you think they walk enough?
MD: I think they do not walk enough.
AH: What do you think about the phones that they hold?
MD: I think that they couldn’t do without those phones.
AH: I’m just like, like when you were young, nobody had them, you would talk on the phone and you’d hang up and you’d leave the house and work.
MD: When I was young, there were four people on the line.
AH: You know, really? Like a party line?
MD: Yeah, party line for, and you pick up the phone and if you didn’t get a dial tone, you could see, you could dial. If you didn’t, if the, if you hear somebody talking, hang up.
AH: Or not. Do you think…
MD: Or not, yeah. Or don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to be published.
AH: Exactly. I think it’s the same way today, but…
MD: I think so.
AH: Yeah, Google’s listening in sometimes. All right. Well, Marge, thank you so much for talking with me today. And I appreciate the memories in your life.
MD: I have good ones, honey, and I still love that path.
AH: Yeah, that’s great.
MD: And I don’t go to the bottom of the big hill very much anymore, but I used to walk it all the way.
AH: Yeah.
MD: And I, a doctor, one of my doctors lived in my house before me, and he said, you know, that he really had too many kids. He had to move out and get a bigger house.
AH: Yeah. That’s funny. And then you got the nice house now.
MD: Well, it’s not, it’s old now, but it’s in a nice part of town, that’s for sure. So is yours?
AH: Yeah. Yeah.
MD: And it certainly hasn’t gone down in price, it’s gone up.
AH: No, that’s for sure.
MD: For sure. And, Eric, another thing is in this area. If somebody moves in, they’re going to be there forever.
AH: Yeah. So that’s why there’s no inventory, right? Because everybody wants to stay.
MD: Yeah. I mean, in my area, that’s what happens. Imagine on your street too.
AH: Yeah. Yeah. That’s right.
MD: Yeah. Well, Has your husband been with you.
AH: He, he rides a bike with me. Yes.
MD: Oh, you like the bike?
AH: Yeah. Yeah. We ride our bikes.
MD: Yeah. Well, if you see a boost person that wheelchair. Sitting near the, the place where you sit down. Wave. And there’ll be me.
AH: Okay. I’ll stop and say hi.
MD: Okay.
AH: All right. Thanks, Marge.
MD: Okay. Thank you, sweetie. Bye.
AH: Okay.
MD: Bye.
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