News: Last of 1906 SF quake survivors dies at 106

Last of 1906 San Francisco earthquake survivors dies at 106 - Herbert Hamrol, The last survivor of the earthquake that leveled San Francisco in 1906, has died.

His secret to long life - "wild women and good liquor"

Mr. Hamrol died Wednesday at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, a hospital spokeswoman said. His death came less than a month after he celebrated his birthday with a big bash at a steakhouse.

The party was just Mr. Hamrol's style, said friends and co-workers. He smoked cigars into his 90s, and told whoever wanted to know that his secret to a long life was "wild women and good liquor," said Janine Barrett, a manager at San Francisco Andronico's Market.

Mr. Hamrol worked stocking shelves and greeting customers at the upscale grocery store until January — a job he took after retiring as a grocer in 1967.

"He still came in twice a week — took the BART and the bus to work from Daly City, and walked," Barrett said. "He was very independent."

Mr. Hamrol was a regular at commemorations of the Great Quake of 1906, spinning stories about how he escaped a crumbling building in his mother's arms.

"She carried me in her left arm and used her right hand to grab the stair rail," Mr. Hamrol, who was 3 when his family fled their South of Market flat, told The Associated Press on the earthquake's 99th anniversary.

Last April 17, Mr. Hamrol was the lone survivor to attend the annual commemoration of the cataclysmic quake and fire that destroyed most of the city. He arrived in style, riding in an immaculate vintage car and saying he would attend this year's anniversary, "God, willing."

"You're not going to get an earthquake every day. So we celebrate the one that we had," Mr. Hamrol said. "It was a beautiful earthquake, if you want to look at it in the glorious way."