100 Years Young: Ms. Emma Alper of Murray Towers Celebrates Milestone Birthday

HACP’s own Ms. Emma Alper has a lot to celebrate.

Ms. Alper, of Murray Towers, has joined just 0.03% of the U.S. population to mark her 100th birthday. The sweet “mom for us all” became a centenarian on May 5, 2024, and was honored by her extended family and friends that traveled from various parts of the globe for her special day.

HACP also held a wonderful celebration for Ms. Alper on May 16, 2024, in the community room at Murray Towers, complete with cake, snacks, balloons, fellowship, and music. Councilwoman Barb Warwick read her a proclamation declaring May 16, 2024, as Ms. Emma Alper Day, and Executive Director Caster D. Binion and HACP staff congratulated her on her milestone birthday. 

Ms. Alper emigrated to Pittsburgh from Russia in 1993, fleeing antisemitism during perestroika (restructuring) in the former Soviet Union.

Ms. Alper credits her longevity to genetics, her family, and living in the United States, a country she says takes better care of its older residents.

“I feel good!” she says of turning 100, an age she also says she never thought she would reach.

Ms. Alper was born on May 5, 1924, in Orsha, a city in Vitebsk Region, Belarus, a daughter of the late Haya and Moishe (Moses) Alper.

She is the youngest of four children – brothers, Mulya and Haim, and sister, Tanya – and is the only living immediate family member.

No other family member lived to be 100, either. Ms. Alper’s mother passed away at age 55, and her father at age 66.

She says she has very fond memories of her childhood because of her close-knit family.

“I had very nice relatives and a very good family,” she adds. “It was like one big community in one house.”

Ms. Alper studied dentistry at a college in Chelyabinsk, and practiced in Russia for 48 years.

Music is also in her blood. She studied at a special school in Russia, and still plays the piano today.

“It was the influence of the house,” she says. “My brother was also a pianist. It was like life!”

When Ms. Alper was 21, she met her future husband, the late Efim Ryzhik, “by chance.”

They were married two months later in July 1946.

The couple has two children – Lina (Ryzhik) Eydinova of California and Alik (Alex) Ryzhik of Pittsburgh – one granddaughter, and two great-grandchildren. 

Efim, a businessman, dreamed his whole life of emigrating to America, Lina says.

Sadly, he became ill in 1993 when he and Ms. Alper were finally going to make that dream a reality. He passed away before they could leave Russia.

To say Ms. Alper is brave is an understatement. When she was finally able to relocate to America, she was ill and couldn’t speak any English. Lina pinned a note to her mother to let people know that she was sick and in need of help once she arrived.

She eventually made it to Pittsburgh, where Alex has lived since the early 1980s, and has since called Murray Towers home.

Ms. Alper says she felt courageous by coming to America, “the real country for opportunities.”

“It was my hope that I would meet my son, and my daughter and her family would come here so we could all be together,” she adds, a hope that came true in 1994 when Lina and her family also moved to the U.S.

Ms. Alper has since learned enough English to communicate with her neighbors, Murray Towers staff and others, and continues to enjoy cooking delicious Russian staples like borscht soup, reading literature, taking walks around the neighborhood, playing the piano and listening to classical music. In her younger years, she also loved going to the opera.

“She loves to cook,” says Lina, with a smile. “Everyone who comes here wants to eat what she’s cooking!”

Ms. Alper says she enjoys living at Murray Towers because the manager, staff and neighbors are very friendly, and the community is very clean.

She also would like to thank her team of helpers from ComForCare Senior Services for taking such great care of her.

Alex and Lina say they are very happy to have a mother at their age (73 and 77, respectively).

“To have my mother is a real blessing,” adds Lina. “All of my friends envy me. She’s the mom for us all!”

“She’s the best mother in the world,” exclaims Alex. “All my life, she loved me with her whole heart.”

Lina and Alex say Ms. Alper taught them to be strong, to never surrender, and most importantly, to never lie.

Over the years, Ms. Alper says one change she has seen that saddens and angers her is an increase in antisemitism in the U.S.

“When she came to America, there was no antisemitism here,” Lina says. “The antisemitism here now makes her heart bleed.”

Though the hatred toward the Jewish population breaks her heart, Ms. Alper says she is very happy to be able to live in the U.S. and that her children, granddaughter and great-grandchildren were able to receive excellent educations here. 

Her advice for younger generations: be patriots of the country and always be patient.

“I would like younger generations to love this country as I love it,” she adds. “Every day, I wake up and say, ‘God Bless America.’”

Happy birthday and congratulations, Ms. Alper! The HACP is so proud to have you as one of our longtime tenants!