In more ways than one, longtime La Jolla resident and newly turned centenarian Phyllis Galambos has lived on her own terms.
She spent 40 years in the biomedical field, often working in labs where she was the only woman. She married later in life, while many people she knew married young. She traveled the world while many members of her family stayed in one place.
Born Phyllis Johnson in Willimantic, Conn., on Jan. 30, 1926, Galambos had three older brothers (all of whom are deceased) and one younger brother, Milton, who lives in Florida.
“When Milt was born, I cried because I wanted a sister,” Galambos said with a laugh. “But he is a very special brother. … We talk on the phone every week.”
Growing up, family ties proved to be an instrumental part of her life. Grandparents lived on the same block and cousins lived three houses down.
“We loved to go out in the woods, and as kids we found this huge boulder that we wanted to climb,” Galambos said. “We would also go sliding down our street, but we stopped when my brother fractured his skull.”
Many of her relatives still live on the East Coast, close to where Galambos grew up.
Galambos attended the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., to study zoology and conduct animal research. She then worked in a lab doing cancer research as her first post-college job.
Galambos was the only woman in the lab, but she never felt challenged by it because she grew up with four brothers, she said.
During that timeframe she became engaged to a man from Brazil, but Galambos decided not to go through with the marriage because it would mean a move to South America.
“I knew I would never be happy there,” she said, citing concerns about leaving her work and her family and not knowing the language. “He was so upset, but I just couldn’t do it.”
Several years later, she met neuroscientist Robert Galambos, who would become her husband. The two never had children, but Robert had daughters from a previous marriage.
The couple knew each other professionally because they worked in the same building in the early 1960s, but a chance meeting in San Diego took things to the next level. Robert was a co-founder of the Department of Neurosciences at UC San Diego and moved to La Jolla in 1968 to help establish it. He was living here when Phyllis visited San Diego years later, and the two had dinner together, which sparked their romance.
They wed Dec. 22, 1977, in the chapel at Yale. They spent that Christmas with her family before driving from Connecticut to California. They moved to their La Jolla home on Jan. 1, 1978, and Phyllis still lives there today.
A photo in Phyllis Galambos’ La Jolla home shows her and her now-late husband, Robert. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)
“I just needed to wait for the right man to come along. … You can just tell when you have met the one,” she said. “We traveled a lot. … In the summers he would go to Europe and spend three weeks there and then I would join him and we would travel around.”
But one of the good parts of traveling was returning to La Jolla, she said. “I loved living here because there was no snow.”
After moving here, Phyllis Galambos started working at what is now known as Rady Children’s Hospital, doing hearing tests for children born prematurely who were in the neonatal intensive care unit. The tests helped them be fitted with hearing aids if needed.
“It made it a job you enjoyed going to in the morning,” Galambos said.
Additionally, she supported the UCSD Department of Neurosciences by hosting collaborators and attending events. She also is a founding member of the UCSD Faculty Club.
When Robert retired, the couple traveled the world. “That’s what I liked most,” Galambos said.
When Robert died in 2010 at age 96, “it was a big change for me,” she said. “But I wanted to stay here because this is a house full of memories.”
In the years that followed, Galambos supported organizations such as Birch Aquarium, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, San Diego Public Library and La Jolla Symphony & Chorus. She also would tend the garden on her property and prune vegetation herself until recently.
As she reflects on reaching 100 years, she credits her genetics, a healthy diet and spending time with friends.
During a recent video call with her grand-nephew, Galambos was asked more about the secret to her longevity and whether she has advice for the next generation. She encouraged getting an education and seeing the world.
“I was lucky to do that,” she said. “I was really lucky.”
La Jolla Centenarians is an occasional series in the La Jolla Light. If you know a La Jollan who is or is about to be at least 100 years old, email robert.vardon@lajollalight.com. ♦