How this Walnut Creek couple found love in their golden years

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – It’s a love affair for a pair of Rossmoor’s finest.

The two-year romance between Barbara Proctor and Ernie Glaser is one of a kind

Their combined ages are 191, but don’t let the math fool you. These two were smitten from the get-go.

“I said how old is he?  He’s 99 and half!  At which point, the entire pool and all of Rossmoor heard me say, ‘Oh my god! Ninety-nine and half is he still breathing?’ My friend said ‘yes, he is,’” Proctor said.

Glaser turns 102 in March, while girlfriend Barbara turned 90 in October.

The two have been inseparable since that first date over a bowl of matzoh-ball soup.

“I have a friend that I told that story to, and he said she’s a keeper.  She is a keeper for sure,” Glaser said.

And Proctor agrees.  Even in their golden years, it has been a perfect relationship.

‘We like being with each other’

Dig deeper:

“I think what keeps us going [is] we are friends.  We like being with each other.  There’s not anything he says to me that I would take offense to,” Proctor said.

Proctor is a dynamo.  The former schoolteacher is the mother of three, grandmother to eight and great grandmother to three more.  She has been volunteering for over 70 years.  It keeps her young.

“The volunteer work just stimulates me, and the children call me GG which is gorgeous Granny, and as soon as I come into the classroom the whole class stops.”  

Glaser lost his wife Elly of nearly 60 years in 2016.  He has two sons, and four grandchildren, and attributes his health to a disciplined and difficult life growing up in Nazi Germany.

Glaser’s entire family fled to China in 1939 and moved into Shanghai’s Jewish ghettos with only $12 U.S. dollars to their name.

His family eventually landed in the U.S. eight years later in 1947, where Glaser flourished working as an executive in the food industry.

“It’s been drilled into us.  You can’t sit still.  You got to move.  I think that has a lot to do with it. In Yiddish it’s called ‘shpilkes.’ It means you must move,” he said.

Keys to their romance

These two are forever in motion and curious with the intention of always giving back to their community. 

They talk every morning and see each other at least three times a week.  And along the way, they have forged a loving friendship based on two key values.

“I think respect is very important and compatibility.   Those two things I think are very important,” Glaser said.

You are never too old for love, even in your golden years.

“Did you tell me that you love me?  Yes.  Did I tell you that I love you.  Yes, you did.  He was first,” Proctor said.