Newtown Resident Celebrates 100th Birthday

By Nancy K. Crevier

The best birthday gift he recalls ever receiving is a fishing pole for those many early mornings he spent fishing Taunton Lake, said Marshall Zitnay — and he remembers many gifts, from many birthdays. Thursday, June 7, Mr Zitnay celebrated his 100th birthday, reminiscing about days gone by and eating birthday cake at a surprise party at his home hosted by several of his friends from Newtown Meals On Wheels.

When flashing police lights caught his attention on the road just outside his home, Thursday noon, he was a little concerned. A regular recipient of lunchtime meals from the local organization, Mr Zitnay was expecting his usual first Thursday of the month meal delivery people, Carm O’Neil and Wendy Wipprecht. He did not expect them to bring an entourage that included not only police to control traffic on his narrow road, but MOW members Marilyn Alexander, Mary and Tom Powers, Ellyn Gehrett, and Lucille LaPerch, with a special chocolate and vanilla cake and balloons in tow.

Born June 7, 1912, in Bridgeport, to Susan and Stephen Zitnay, he spent his youth in the east end of Bridgeport, near Stratford, said Mr Zitnay. “We had gas lights,” he said, and he remembers when their home was outfitted for that novel invention, electricity. “I don’t remember exactly when that was, though. It was quite a while ago,” he chuckled. He also recalled his first job.

“On my walk home from school, I’d stop wherever building was going on, and they would pay me to nail up lathes. That was when the buildings were lathe and plaster,” he recalled. “I’d stop and put up one or two bundles,” he said, “and then head home. I had some pocket money.”

He gave his Chevrolet to one of his two great-granddaughters about three years ago, when he quit driving, said Mr Zitnay. He did not have to think for even a minute, though, when a guest asked him if he remembered his first car. “That was a brand new, 1930 Nash,” he said.

Mr Zitnay was working in building maintenance for Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford 65 years ago, and living in Bridgeport, when he and his wife Anna passed through Newtown one afternoon, and saw a gathering of people in front of a cute little house. A couple of weeks later, “We opened the paper and saw that very house [for sale].” They drove up to look at it, and that was that. “Anna just thought that Newtown looked like a nice place to live,” he said.

He retired from Sikorsky in 1977, he said, giving him a little more time to spend on his favorite pastime. “My hobby was fishing Taunton Lake,” he said. “I’d go out at 6 am, catch my limit, then come home and give them to our friends. We couldn’t eat fish everyday,” he remembered.

His wife passed away nine years ago, but their daughter, Carol, lives in Waterbury, and his grandson, Gregory Hopkins, lives in Stratford. “He’s very good to me,” said Mr Zitnay, of his grandson. “We go out to eat once a week or so. As a matter of fact, he’s coming down this afternoon and we’re going out to dinner.”

He gave up fishing a while back, he said, but he enjoys watching the news and doing crossword puzzles. “I do the ones in the Danbury News Times. You know, on Monday and Tuesday, they start out easy. But by today, I’ll probably be lucky to get two words,” Mr Zitnay said.

Just when Mr Zitnay thought the surprise of the day was over, First Selectman Pat Llodra knocked on the door. “Happy birthday! This is pretty remarkable,” she greeted him, presenting him with a Town of Newtown Certificate of Celebration “With wishes for much health and happiness in the years to come!”

“This is something we’re all trying to achieve, 100 years,” Ms Llodra said. “Just think, June 7, 1912. It’s hard to even wrap my head around that date. Haven’t we been blessed to have him for 100 years,” she said.

“I’m surprised myself,” joked Mr Zitnay.

The curious “youngsters” gathered to celebrate his birthday could not, of course, resist asking him the secret to his longevity. There is no special diet he follows, he said, “Just Meals On Wheels at lunchtime,” said Mr Zitnay.

Clean living and hard work have not hurt him a bit, either, he said. “What else is there?”