Person:Cleo King (2)

Name	Cleo Estelle King
Gender	Female
Birth^[1]	9 Apr 1909	Floyd, Roosevelt, New Mexico, United States
Marriage	2 May 1942	to Claude Raymond Zent
Death^[1]	17 Mar 2014	Petaluma, Sonoma, California, United States

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Information on Cleo Estelle (King) Zent

U.S. House of Representatives Honor Cleo Estelle King

HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY, OF CALIFORNIA, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, May 18, 2009

Ms. WOOLSEY: Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Cleo Estelle King Zent of Petaluma, California, for an unusual accomplishment. Cleo just celebrated her 100th birthday, an event few people have the opportunity to enjoy.

There is no one secret to Cleo’s longevity. Cleo maintains that genetics and a healthy lifestyle have kept her spry. She always avoided alcohol and tobacco use and, since she never drove, she got her exercise by walking everywhere. Cleo’s positive outlook has also allowed her to experience ten fulfilling decades of life.

Cleo, daughter of Hugh and Laura Walker King, was born in Floyd, New Mexico on April 9, 1909. Her father was a leading citizen who championed education and promoted school issues among voters. In 1927, Hugh and Laura King moved the family to Rio Vista, California where Hugh and his sons worked for Speckels Sugar Company until moving to Lodi, California three years later.

Following Prohibition, Cleo worked as a waitress in a local coffee shop where local winemakers gathered for breakfast and conversations. Cesar Mondavi and August Sebastiani were among Cleo’s customers. On May 2, 1942, Cleo married Claude R. Zent. The couple spent most of the World War II years in Alameda, where Claude worked as an electrical engineer at the Naval Air Station. Their first son, William R. Zent, was born in 1945, followed by the birth of Jack Zent in 1948.

After the War, the Zent family moved to a 12-acre plot of land just outside the city of Petaluma and Claude transferred his employment to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. For the next twenty years, Cleo and her family spent their time building and improving their homestead. According to Cleo, for years their house looked like they were just moving in or just moving out. When Cleo’s dreams for her home were almost realized in 1966, Claude died of a brain hemorrhage. Cleo remained on the family’s property walking to and from the grocery store, mowing the lawn and maintaining her home until she was in her 90s. Today, Cleo lives in the Golden Living Care Home in Petaluma and she shares her life with her sons and her four grandchildren, Caryn Estelle, Kevin, Christy and Christopher Zent.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to honor Cleo Zent whose experience is a testament to the fact that a healthy lifestyle and optimistic outlook can lead to a long and fulfilling life.

Happy Birthday, Cleo!

Source: Congressional Record, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2009-05-18/pdf/CREC-2009-05-18-extensions.pdf

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