Gramma the tortoise enjoyed incredible longevity. (San Diego Zoo/Facebook)

R.I.P. Gramma

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

The San Diego Zoo lost its oldest inhabitant last month, when “Gramma” the beloved Galápagos tortoise was euthanized because of health issues. She was believed to have been 141 years old.

Gramma arrived at the San Diego Zoo sometime between 1928 and 1931, according to zoo officials. It was only several years after the zoo’s grand

opening in 1923 that she settled into a pampered life of munching on cactus fruit and romaine lettuce while endearing herself to millions of visitors who got to pet her neck and feed her carrots. Some recall riding on her back when they were small kids in the 1940s to the mid-1960s. (Fortunately a stop was put to those encounters decades ago.)

Needless to say, the grand dame of the zoo’s reptile collection outlived 20 presidents as the world around her witnessed two world wars, the birth of household televisions, the global expansion of commercial aviation, and a tumultuous transition into the 21st Century.

Oh, to be a tortoise that lives such a long, luxurious life without ever having a care in the world!