by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central

May 7, 2009

For the second time in three months, the YM-YWHA of Union County has celebrated the 100th birthday of one of its senior members. In February, Joe Resnick marked his big milestone; on April 25 it was Al Monheit’s turn, and as with his friend, the celebration went on for days.

Aside from battling a whistle tone in his hearing aid, Monheit is as clear and bright to talk to as a person 25 years his junior. He had driven himself to Union from Edison, where he has lived in a senior center for the past 10 years, and chatting with New Jersey Jewish News, he was full of anecdotes and jokes.

The Y had a lunch party for him on April 24, and his family threw him what was supposed to be a surprise party the following Sunday at the Grand Marquis Hotel in Matawan. “It wasn’t really a surprise,” he admitted with a grin. “My son hadn’t come in from Arizona just for a weekend visit, and my grandson had come in from Texas, and my granddaughter came from Florida. I knew something was up.”

In all, there were 120 guests at the dinner. He was all set to entertain them with an ad-libbed speech. “I was going to tell a few stories and jokes, but they had hired a stand-up comedian,” he said, and added, “He had six pages of jokes; I was going to do it off the cuff.”

Monheit’s only concession to age is his mobility. “Walking is a big problem,” he said. Until just a few months ago, he swam regularly at the Y, but getting in and out of the pool became too difficult. “I used to be able to swim four or five laps without a break. I really miss it,” he said — and then switched back to brighter topics.

Faced with the inevitable question — the secret of his longevity — Monheit shrugged. He eats very lightly, making himself oatmeal for breakfast and a salad at night, usually skipping lunch, but he shook his head when asked if he eats deliberately with his health in mind. “If my teeth could handle it, I’d eat steak every day,” he said.

“They say living a long life has to do with genetics, but my father died at 54 and my mother died in her early 70s,” he said. They immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1904, and Monheit was born in Jersey City five years later, the first of their four children. He has outlived them all.

He also lost his beloved wife, Gussie — or “Bumie” as they called each other — 25 years ago. Some years later, he linked up with someone — “a very attractive spinster,” as he described her — and they had a few very enjoyable years of companionship, until she began to develop dementia and pushed him away.

He said, “I have two very good children.” His daughter, Debbie Wasserman, lives in Old Bridge, and his son, Barry, lives in Arizona. He has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. If he hangs on a few more years, he could make it to great-great-grand status, he agreed. But, he added, “I go to bed every night thinking, ‘Who knows if I’ll wake up tomorrow?’”

Monheit had a kosher supermarket in North Arlington for a number of years. When the profit margin proved too low, he and his brother decided to open a shoe store. He didn’t know anything about the shoe business but that didn’t faze him. “I said, ‘I’ve been wearing shoes all my life…,” he recalled saying, as if that was enough — and it was.

He retired 35 years ago and has had no trouble keeping himself busy. He reads a lot — John Grisham is a favorite author — and he gambles in a minor way, heading off to Atlantic City “as often as I can.” And he goes to the Y at least once a week to link up with his longtime buddies there.

As for his fellow centenarian, he declared, “Joe Resnick is 20 years younger than me. He’s really fit — and he has a brilliant mind. I’m nothing like that.”

Susan Silberner, director of senior programs at the Y, and Jeanne Major, who runs the Yiddish Vinkl program there, both shook their heads at that. “He’s also terrific,” Silberner said. And Major said, “Al’s a wonderful person.” And everyone agreed that he and Resnick make turning 100 look pretty good.

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