There have been numerous books and articles written over the years on the subject of how to live to be 100, but don’t ask centenarian George Henry “Bush” Clark about them.
“Nope, I’ve never read them,” Clark said during his party celebrating his 100th birthday Monday.
The staff at Crosby Commons at Wesley Village in Shelton, where Clark lives with his 91-year-old wife, Doris, had a full day of celebrations for the Ansonia native and World War II veteran who served in the Pacific theater.
In addition to visits by friends, family and local dignitaries, members of Ansonia’s Eagle Hose Hook and Ladder Co. stopped by to pay tribute.
Clark joined the volunteer fire company in 1932. He was still marching in the parades with them as recently as 1989. The firefighters presented him with an engraved mantle clock and a framed portrait of him in uniform.
Everyone wanted to know Clark’s secret to longevity.
Someone joked that it was a glass of wine every day. He quipped: “Well, I haven’t had any recently, not until this morning.”
Firefighters noted his sense of humor is still going strong.
“How are you doing?,” a firefighter asked him. “Whatever I can,” he said with a laugh.
“We’re pretty proud of him,” said firefighter George Curtis, a former captain at Eagle Hose.
Clark’s daughter, Karen Minichino, 56, of Leeford, Va., said her dad took brisk walks for lunch all his life, even during lunch hours when he worked for Anaconda American Brass in Ansonia doing inventory work in the office. She said he holds an associate’s degree from Quinnipiac University in Hamden.
He did not smoke cigarettes and he led an active life with a sense of humor and a good attitude.
Family members noted he was a parishioner at Christ Episcopal Church in Ansonia.
“That’s important, make sure you put that in there about church,” Clark said.
Minichino said family members had a party for her father over the weekend.
Monday was the day for the firefighters to salute him. They brought along a fire engine.
He couldn’t stand next to it — he must ride a wheelchair because of arthritis in his legs — but he sat near it and tried on a couple of helmets.
When it came time to share cake, he sat inside the facility’s community room with his wife.
His son, George Clark, 58, of Massachusetts, said his dad’s active and healthy lifestyle is probably responsible for helping him to hit the century mark.
“Between his gardening and everything, he was very busy,” the proud son said.
And he still exercises, even in his wheelchair, said his daughter.
“When there’s an exercise class, he participates,” Minichino said.
