Shliach Witnessed Largest Gathering of Centenarians
MONROE, NJ — Shliach Rabbi Eliezer Zaklikovsky was called upon to be an official ‘witness’ for the Guinness Book of World Records, documenting an historical occasion of the most centenarians in one event (40!) at a Jewish nursing facility in NJ.
Flashes popped and iPhones bobbed up and down for position. Small children pushed their way past taller adults to get a better view. Gasps of admiration escaped from wide-eyed spectators as “You Make Me Feel So Young” played in the background.
It was a sight the likes of which may never have ever occurred before in all of recorded history. At the front of the room, being feted for their longevity, sat 40 men and women, all of whom were at least 100 years old.
They came from all over New Jersey, from Bernardsville to Denville, from Hazlet to Highland Park, in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most centenarians ever assembled in one room. The record had been set in the United Kingdom in 2009 when 28 super-seniors gathered at a tea party. Today, the Regency Jewish Heritage Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the Somerset section of Franklin Township hosted 38 women and two men.
Taken together, these centenarians have a combined 4,000 years of wisdom, equal to about the entire span of western civilization. Taken individually, their stories show how much has changed in the last century, and how human beings can triumph over almost unimaginable hardships. These men and women survived wars, hunger, unemployment, the Great Depression.
There is Il N. Kim Chae, 102, who walked 100 miles with her nine children to escape the violence of the Korean War.
There is Mary Andiorio, 101, a Mendham native, who remembers her school principal jumping and shouting, “The war is over! The war is over!” That would be World War I.
Andiorio lives in Bernardsville and still does her own taxes; she does her neighbor’s as well.
There is Kurt Steiner, a refugee from Hitler’s Europe, walking briskly back to his table and looking dapper in a gray suit. He’s been living in the same Cranford home for the last 60 years. After looking at the assembled crowd, Steiner, somewhat surprised, noted he was one of only two men.
“And I’m the only one with some hair left,” he said.
Women in the United States live an average of 81 years while men live an average of 76 years, according to government data. No one is exactly sure why. The most recent hypothesis comes from Japan. In an article published last week in the Journal of Aging and Immunology, Japanese scientists posited womens’ immune systems hold up better in old age.
“These findings, indicating a slower rate of decline in these immunological parameters in women than in men, are consistent with the fact that women live longer than men,” the authors wrote.
The 2010 Census counted 53,364 centenarians in the United States and 1,769 in New Jersey.
Marie Barnes, public relations director at the Regency, coordinated the program, hoping to break the world record. It appears she has though it needs to be officially certified, which could take a couple weeks.
She admitted she was a bit surprised by her guests’ vitality.
“Their total mindset is so sharp,” she said.
Most of the centenarians needed to be wheeled in, but not all.
Catherine Carlin, wearing a bright pink top with a yellow flower pinned to her chest, flashed a wide smile as she walked toward the front of the room. She carries a cane in her left arm but does not use it.
Carlin is the oldest member of the group. She is 107 and looks like she might still be asked for ID if she requested the senior discount.
“I don’t feel (107),” she said.
Carlin immigrated from Scotland to Kearny in 1929 and has been in the Garden State ever since. She ate lunch at the same table as Josephine Patterson, who turned 100 last week, which makes her the baby of the group. Patterson grew up in Jersey City and moved to Lodi in 1950, buying her 3-bedroom home for $7,500 with help from the GI Bill. She still has her first property tax bill. She paid $100 that year. She smiled a bit when she said that she now pays about $7,000.
Every day, she said, she reads the obituaries to make sure she isn’t there.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she shouted defiantly. “I’m staying because I have to aggravate a lot more people. And when I leave I’m going to have the last word.”
What will the last word be?
“Beautiful,” Patterson said. “Beautiful. It’s been a great ride.”
