Could this racism be a result of a disintegrating mind? [View all]

Or am I making excuses....
This friend I've known for some 15 years, only in recent years we have become closer.
She is 85 (I am 70) and a strong leftist, so I have always considered her.
So she considers herself.

Twice lately she has made a comment which I consider racist.
When I mentioned a restaurant, where I would ask about a job for refugees, she said "But they have a lot of Jews there". (She is not Jewish, I am.)
When someone was asking about a particular apartment complex, she said "There are a lot of Jews living there."
When I confronted her she said, she meant a lot of Orthodox Jews. And her rationale was "don't you like to live among people like you?"
I was very disturbed, but let it go.
After the 2nd remark, i know I have to talk to her. I feel very offended and would even if I weren't Jewish.
The reason I wonder about her mental adeptness is bec. she herself has told me on many occasions that she feels she isn't as smart, as 'mentally fit' as she once was.
or maybe she always was racist and it never emerged.