The Boston Red Sox had 102-year-old Mary Latowski in the stands at Fenway during Game 2 of the 2018 World Series. But don’t think for a moment the LA Dodgers are lacking their own passionate centenarian fan. At 108, Ruthie Tompson, a former animator for Disney who helped with the creation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio, will attend Game 4 of the championship series to cheer on her Boys in Blue.
Tompson, who has been a Dodgers fan ever since they moved to L.A. in 1957, has attended many games over the years, but never a World Series. So, her Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement complex in Woodland Hills, California created a GoFundMe account and posted on Instagram and Twitter in order to raise money and send her to the game, according to ABC 7.
“I started the hashtag #RuthiesWorldSeries, #RuthieTickets and we’re trying desperately to get her there because she’s a die-hard Dodger fan. She hasn’t missed a game. She watches it from her television, and I think it’s appropriate that she’s on the field when they take back the series,” said Jennifer Clymer, with the fund.
Tickets came through on Friday night. For someone who celebrated her 107th birthday at Disneyland and is learning how to make movies on her phone, it’s no surprise that she’s up for attending a big-time baseball game, even if that means lasting 18 innings.
As for how Tompson stays young at 108, it’s all about keeping her mind and her body active.
“Don’t quit. Read as much as you can. Do as much as you can. Play as much as you can – play a lot,” she told ABC 7.
And, as someone who grew up in the same neighborhood as Walt Disney, according to Entertainment Weekly, passed by his studio in elementary school as he worked, and was encouraged by the great animator to attend night school for animation, her advice on making “play” a priority is worth listening to. It may just carry you past 100 and into the World Series.
