At 90, Beer got her driver's license so she could drive herself places. She learned how to use the Internet so she could stay connected with her huge family. And, like any teenager, she has a weekly schedule that's packed with movies, lunches and dinner and dance dates. Just two months ago, the matriarch was at a family gathering in Cancun, Mexico, dancing into the wee hours of the night.

Being on the go is one secret to her longevity, Beer says.

"I exercise all the time, running up and down my driveway," she jokes. "I'm always going someplace. I go to the movies and out to dinner every Saturday. I never gave up my social life."

Though Beer cannot pinpoint any particular routine that helped her stay strong and healthy, she believes it's a combination of good genes and sound lifestyle habits. Her father died when he was 85, her mother at 87. She also has a 90-year-old brother and 84-year-old sister.

"I take good care of myself," she says. "I never drank. I never smoked. I had a good husband who was wonderful and it made a lot of difference."

Family members and close friends, who affectionately call Beer "Ma," say the 61-year Willow Glen resident has been a reservoir of energy for as long as they can remember.

Born to Catherine Anna Jenson and John Lerwill in Payson, Utah, in 1910, Beer is the seventh child in a family of seven boys and five girls. At 18, she met the love of her life, Thomas Lee Beer, on a blind date and married him two years later.

"I fell in love with him because he was a good looking young man," Beer says.

The Great Depression in the 1930s forced the couple to move to California in search of jobs. In 1944, the couple moved into a home on Settle Avenue in Willow Glen, with three daughters in tow, Bonnie Houser, then 12, Leanne Mayo, who was eight and Karen Loewenstern, who was two. The couple paid $4,800 for their California bungalow, which they have since remodeled.

"The street was very rundown and had a lot of old homes," Beer says. "All the people living on the street were old people. They sat on their porches chatting. We were the only family with three little girls."

During World War II, her husband worked at the Joshua Hendy Iron Works plant in Sunnyvale. After the war, he continued to work at the plant, which was bought by Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1947. Beer stayed home to look after the children. During those years Beer would often take her daughters on bicycle rides around the neighborhood in her shorts, sparking gossip in the neighborhood.

"One old lady who lived down the street said, 'It's terrible for that old woman to wear shorts and ride a bicycle,'" Beer says. "I was only 32 years old. I was young."

In 1955, an enterprising Beer took a beauty course in San Jose and opened a beauty parlor, Stella's Beauty Salon, in their family room where residents came for a quick shampoo or trim. Though she didn't advertise her business and relied solely on word of mouth, Beer says business was good.

While Loewenstern, the founder of Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, remembers the family room filled with old-fashioned hair dryers, equipment for hair perms and customers, it was images of Beer sitting at the family's dining table with neighbors in need that stuck in her mind.

"People would always go to her with their problems and she would lend a listening ear," Loewenstern says. "My mother always has a soft shoulder, listening ear and a compassionate heart."

When her husband retired at the age 65 in 1972, Beer closed the salon and they spent the next 15 years traveling the globe together. The couple visited the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Hawaii. The pair went on cruises and often made trips to England, the native country of Beer's father.

It was during a two-week vacation to Europe that her husband died of a heart attack in 1986. It was the worst thing that ever happened to her, Beer says. They were a close couple who loved dancing. The two were part of a dancing club in Willow Glen for 25 years.

"We never went out without each other," she says. "We were together all the time. We went to bed together and got out of bed together."

Though it's been almost 20 years, Beer says she's never stopped crying. Now it's Loewenstern and Rachel Spivack, a close family friend, who help care for her. The women pulled her through that difficult period.

Loewenstern, who was busy building up Ballet San Jose at that time, involved her mother with activities like fundraisers and galas. She also got Beer hooked on ballet performances.

"She's never missed a single ballet performance," Loewenstern says.

At Loewenstern's birthday party in the late 1980s, she introduced Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Computers and an avid Ballet San Jose supporter, to Beer. The pair clicked like old-time pals. Wozniak was going through a divorce and her mother was there for him, Loewenstern says. "He was my ballet date for about four years," Beer says. "He's my best buddy now."

Family Glue

Beer's close-knit family is also what kept her going all these years. Her love for her family is evident in the photographs that line the walls of her house and Beer makes it a point to give every newborn in the family their first bath and make them each a blanket. She was there when each of her 13 grandchildren were born and has given almost all of her 31 great grandchildren their first bath.

"It's like a little family ritual," Spivack says. "It's an honor and they all bring their babies to her. When she touches the babies, she gets young again."

Grandsons Tom Sparling and Tim Langton say Beer is what holds the family so closely together. Both have fond childhood memories of their grandparents taking care of them and bringing them on camping trips in their camper.

"The family has always and still revolves around her," says Sparling, a Morgan Hill resident who lunches with his grandmother once a week. "She always wants the latest scoop on what's happening with everyone in the family. She wants the family to be involved in everyone's life." With the entire family spread out over different states, Beer is like a connecting wire, says Langton, who lives in Colorado and talks to Beer about four times a week.

Whenever family members are in California, they all gather in her house. "I never put a 'No Vacancy' on my door," Beer says. "I always have vacancies for my family."

Next-door neighbor Nancy Garrison says Beer's house is as busy as an international airport. "She has lots of friends and family that are constantly coming and going," Garrison says. "There's always some grandchild or great-grandchild coming to visit her, taking her out to lunch or the beach. She's very much in demand."

Beer's energy and love for life has rubbed off on those who know her.

Spivack calls the time she spends daily with Beer "Tuesdays with Ma."

Being around Beer inspires a sense of peace, Spivak says.

"She has this wonderful outlook on life," Spivack says. "After knowing her, I don't sweat the small stuff anymore."

Though Beer has outlived most of the people she knew on Settle Avenue, she continues to inspire neighbors around her. Garrison, who moved into Settle Avenue in 1980, enjoys stopping by in the evenings for a cup of tea. She recalls going to Dancin' on the Avenue with Beer three years ago where Beer pulled her onto the dance floor and started to dance.

"She's got such wonderful energy that I just enjoy being around her," Garrison says. "She is an inspiration to me about growing old gracefully."

And she adds, "I can look forward to growing old, being happy and having a fulfilling life."

Looking back on her life, Beer says she couldn't ask for more. Her birthday wish is simple:

"I want to stay on my feet," she says. "And for as long as I live, I don't want to be a burden to anyone."