Longevity in Hermosa: John Leininger

Hermosa Beach ranked as the most affluent city in Los Angeles County, according to a report released by the county's Department of Public Health. But the average life expectancy in town is 80.4 years, which is not much higher than the county's overall average of 80.3 years.

This is the fourth in an eight-part series profiling Hermosa's longest-lived residents, who share their thoughts about longevity, happiness and why the city's high economic ranking doesn't translate into a longer life expectancy.

Redondo Beach resident John Leininger, 67, worked for 30 years as the manager of Becker Surf on Pier Avenue before retiring in February. After working in Hermosa for a large part of his life, Leininger spoke with Patch about how stress can affect life expectancy.

Hermosa Beach Patch: Why do you think that Hermosa Beach doesn't fare much better than Los Angeles County over all in terms of life expectancy?

Jim Leininger: It probably depends a lot on when these statistics were done. I think, [with] a lot of people moving in the last 10 years, property values are so high, people are working their tails off to make their house payments. That puts people under a lot of stress … the cost of housing down here is so high that they are probably putting in a lot of hours to pay for them, probably husband and wife.

Patch: How do you stay healthy as a senior living in the Hermosa Beach area?

Leininger: Well you exercise a lot and eat properly, try to live as stress-free as you can.

Patch: Do you exercise at all to stay healthy, besides surfing?

Leininger: Bike ride. I used to run before my knees started to give me trouble.

Patch: What are your secrets to longevity?

Leininger: I think it's probably 80 percent genetics, and 20 percent you can do something about it. And along with that, a proper diet and exercise like we're talking about.

Patch: What is your secret to happiness?

Leininger: Have a good partner in life, a good wife, and have a positive outlook on life.

Patch: What do you advise people to avoid doing to stay healthy in the golden years?

Leininger: Try to cut down as much stress as you can ... simplicity is the key. You know, it's not the amount of toys you have ... a lot of stuff you just don't need. Just keep it simple. 

Sometimes people work hard and are making a lot of money and they buy all this stuff to justify working so hard, there's nothing wrong with that, but keeping it simple has always worked for me.