Manuela “Dolly” Diaz of Las Vegas died at 106 on Aug. 18 from complications of pneumonia. She danced into her 70s and traveled in her 90s; her family believes her zest for life may have been key to her longevity.
Her granddaughters Tracy Bias and Carleena Shumway recalled that Diaz joked with truck drivers over a CB radio and pulled up to their schools with music blaring in an effort to embarrass them; they said they and their friends enjoyed it. At home, she made tortillas and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Born on what is now the Fort Yuma-Quechan Reservation in Arizona, Diaz moved to Nevada as a baby. She married military service member Marcos Medina in 1941, and they had five children. Widowed in 1970, she later served as president of a Las Vegas Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary post and worked at a cafeteria-style restaurant at Nellis Air Force Base, retiring in the 1990s.
