When Beverly Eastwood’s kids moved her into Friendship Manor at 79 years-old, they didn’t expect her to get hitched in the dining hall. 

 

“I called my daughter and said, ‘I got married.’ She said, ‘So much for a safe place to put your mom!’” she laughed.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beverly's third wedding ceremony took place in Friendship Manor’s dining hall on July 4, 2011. Now 91,

she’s lived at Friendship Manor for nearly 12 years. 

 

“My father lived to be a hundred, and my grandmother on his side and grandfather, they both lived

over a hundred. So, I was just set to be a hundred. And now I think I’ll have one more year,” she said. 

 

She spent the first 30 years of her life in New York. She had four children within her first marriage.

Her husband at the time was an actor, so the family moved out to Hollywood, California.

They divorced after 14 years. “First wives don’t last very long,” she said. 

 

Beverly remarried a man who had four children of his own. The blended family moved into a home

near Tucker’s Grove Park in Santa Barbara. After her husband developed Alzheimer’s, however, his kids

convinced him to sell the house, Beverly said. They’d been married for 37 years. 

 

“They came down from San Francisco with big time lawyers and they took my house away, which was kind of shocking. I was going to buy camping equipment and go down to the beach,” she said. 

 

That’s when Beverly found Friendship Manor. Recovering from the trauma of losing her husband and her home, she was very “needy” when she moved into the Manor at 79 years-old, she said. This made her a “target for men who would like someobdy to take care of them.” 

 

A young, attractive Vietnam veteran 17 years younger than Eastwood approached her. “He wined and dined and he charmed me because I was still recovering from the fact that my stepkids took my house away,” she said. 

 

She agreed to marry him under one condition: they had to do it before she turned 80. So, during the 4th of July party in Friendship Manor’s dining hall, she and her third husband got married. 

 

“We went to Costco and got a carrot cake, and put it on the table for the 4th of July,” she laughed. 

 

After her husband developed Lewy Body dementia, he was moved

into La Cumbre Senior Living Concepts, an assisted living facility

in Santa Barbara. He passed away after 10 months. 

 

Nowadays, Beverly doesn’t consider herself lonely. “I have 200

friends here,” she said. Her daughter is a teacher in Santa Barbara,

and comes by often to take care of her. 

 

Looking back at her life, Beverly greatest pride has been raising

her children. Devastatingly, she lost one of her sons to HIV/AIDS

25 years ago.

​

“I got three of my kids through. I told him, ‘I can’t save you.’

That was sad,” she said. 

 

As she’s gotten older, Beverly’s been struggling with falling down

more frequently, which can result in months or years of recovery.

She keeps a whistle around her neck, just in case she gets into

an accident.