January 13, 2006

Ageless wonder

Evergreen resident Belle Denea
a poetry author at age 100

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

In 1999, Evergreen resident Belle Denea saw a lifetime of work finally go to print.

Belle Denea at 100, holding a copy of her poetry book, ‘Belle’s Inspirations.’ Denea’s book is a collection of poems she has written over several decades.

Her book of poetry, ‘Belle’s Inspirations,’ is a collection of poems written about almost anything, from family members celebrating birthdays or Christmas, to parsley, to a four-year-old boy asking her about the wrinkles on her face.

By the way, she’s arguably one of the oldest authors in Evergreen, having just celebrated her 100th birthday on Dec. 27.

“I started writing what I call jingles when I was in the early grades in school,” said Denea, who lives in Evergreen with her youngest daughter, Donna Arnold. “It developed into poetry, and it kind of keeps me busy.”

Inspiration for Denea can strike at any moment – and it has, too. That’s why she keeps a pen and plenty of paper on her at all times. Ideas for poems can even strike in the middle of the night, she said, forcing her out of her bed to jot her latest creation down.

“It can wake me up, and I just have to write. I’ll turn on the light, and just write,” Denea said of her sudden inspirations. “Otherwise, in the morning, you wouldn’t even be able to remember what it was about.”

Denea said she’s written poems for just about every member of her family, and, after 100 years of living, that family has grown quite large. In total, Denea is the matriarch of a family that has four daughters, 14 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and one great great grandchild.

“We have volumes and volumes of her poems just stacked because she has written so many and she’s saved them,” said Arnold, a recently retired school secretary at Silver Oak Elementary School. “She’s been in car accidents before, and she would write poetry in the hospital, even with her neck in a brace and everything else. It’s just something that’s always been with her.”

Evergreen resident Belle Denea, 100, enjoyed dancing in her earlier days and still plans to take part in a line dance to ‘New York, New York’ with family members at her 100th birthday celebration on Jan. 14.

And while being an accomplished author at her age is quite a feat in itself, she’s intent on doing good deeds for others with her talents as well. Denea, who until recently printed her own books without the backing of a publisher, takes any opportunity to talk to perfect strangers about her poetry book, offering to sell them a copy for $20.

The money she makes for her book then goes back to her church, the First Presbyterian Church on 4th street in San Jose, which established a fund called the Campership Fund. The fund sends underprivileged children associated with the church to summer camps. All told, Denea has sold more than 300 copies of her book.

“What do I need money for, except for clothing and food?” she said of donating the funds her book generates to the camp program. “I really don’t need much money, I don’t think. …When my girls were little, my husband and I sent them to camp, and we always felt that camp was a wonderful thing for children to go to.”

“It’s just as heartwarming to see her here on Sunday mornings because she is 100 years old,” added First Presbyterian Church Rev. Larry Burroughs. “Everyone cherishes her because she’s just so positive about life.”

Seeing her dream come true, Denea is hoping to take her book to the next progressive step. The JMW Group, a publishing company in New York, is currently considering her book for worldwide publication in various languages. And while she’s stopped selling her book on her own – a stipulation by the company until it makes a decision – she still won’t take a penny from the proceeds. Denea agreed to have her book considered for publication by the JMW Group only if all the proceeds go directly to helping children go to camp.

A century of living
Denea has seen several things during her 100 years of living.

Belle Denea at age five.

Born in 1905 in the Oak Park suburb of Chicago, Denea has lived in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Washington before settling in San Jose in the late 1940s. As Denea puts it, “I’ve been around the outskirts of the United States.”

Through her 100 years, Denea has seen 18 U.S. presidents in office, two World Wars, the invention of television and has married three times, just to name a few.

After moving to San Jose, Denea and her husband opened a small snack shop around the corner of Bellarmine College Prep, and recalled Bing Crosby’s sons attending the school and visiting her snack shop from time to time.
When recalling her days in San Jose, Denea said she’s thankful for being “born in the best century.”

“When you stop and think about it; horses went out, and cars came in,” Denea said of living for 100 years. “In fact, my dad drove the first car out of Chicago into Oak Park. They had to be cranked, so you always had to have somebody in the car who was old enough and strong enough to be able to crank the car.”

Poetry, as it turns out, isn’t Denea’s only form of artistic expression either. Dena said she still loves dancing, despite the fact she gets around with the help of a walker now. In her earlier days, she performed entertaining dancing acts for the sick and elderly at hospitals and nursing homes while dressed in costume as Mrs. Santa Claus, Mr. Potato Head, or any number of other characters. While living in the Town Park Towers on 3rd Street in downtown San Jose, Denea would also put on monthly shows with her third husband for the senior community there.

Born in the Oak Park suburb of Chicago, Denea moved to several states on both the east and west coasts before settling in San Jose in the late 1940s.

Denea said she’s loved dancing since “I could stand on my own two feet.”

She is also a culinary artist, and very accomplished in the kitchen, having made literally hundreds of birthday cakes and three-layered wedding cakes for friends and family.

On Jan. 14, Denea will celebrate her birthday, with all of her family in tow, at a dinner and dance celebration in San Jose.

If anything, the one thing left for Denea to accomplish is simply this – her deep desire to line dance to ‘New York, New York’ with all of her family members.

“I expect her to keep going until she’s 120 or 130 years old,” Arnold said of her mother. “The doctors keep saying she’s very young. She just had her pacemaker replaced, something you have to do every 10 years because the batteries wear out. They told her, ‘we’ll see you in 10 years, Belle.’ I believe it. In 10 years, Momma will be back, having her pacemaker replaced.”