Life at 102

On April 27, 102 years ago, Bill Barnett was born. A lot has changed over the last 100-plus years, but some things have stayed the same.

“I’m always moving, never snoozing,” Bill said, “although, lately, I catch myself napping in my chair. I wonder if it has something to do with my age.”

Bill, a resident of Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, recalls his life experiences fondly, and insists he is still making good memories while he keeps active with recreational activities, music therapy and Masonic Wellness Center fitness classes. That may seem like a lot for a 102-year-old to keep up with, but Bill says he’s been on the go his whole life.

“I really don’t feel that old,” he says. “I guess I’m just not one for sitting around.”

As a young gentleman, Bill participated in wrestling and played baseball, football and soccer for local church teams. He succeeded in school, and his time spent in a one-room schoolhouse listening to the older children being taught allowed him to skip two grades. Bill was quite the fan of trying new things, and even tried his hand at ballroom and tap dance, which impressed a young lady named Lydia, who became his wife of 68 years.

During the year of their marriage, 1937, a loaf of bread cost $.09, a three-bedroom home sold for $4,100, the classic novel Of Mice and Men was published and automatic transmission was introduced by General Motors. By the way, a new car cost, on average, $585. Bill remembers saving 127 silver dollars to buy their family car. “It was a great car,” he says, “worth every dollar.”

A native of Lancaster County, Bill retired from the Pennsylvania Railroad, where he spent 40 years making sure things ran smoothly by organizing crews, record keeping and handling emergencies. Each day, Bill would walk between Lancaster and Columbia, arriving before the trains hit the stations to be sure everything was in tip-top shape.

“I would walk through about seven or eight miles of field every day,” Bill said. “Now you want to talk about a work out!”

“I think it is about eight miles. For a while there, the distance was getting longer every time he told the story,” Pat Sourbeer, Bill’s daughter, said with a smile.

Bill and Lydia spent their summers in Homosassa, Florida, where they owned a house and enjoyed boating, fishing and golfing. “We could never just stay home. We always had to go somewhere,” Bill said. “Having an active wife kept me moving, too.”

Bill also spent time as an active and award-winning Scoutmaster, making impressions on the youth who looked up to him.

According to Pat, Bill’s love for life and making people smile comes naturally. “He has always been the life of the party, telling jokes and relating to everyone. He’s still that way.

“He gets involved in everything,” Pat said. “One day, I came to visit and noticed he wasn’t in his room or in the common area. I thought to myself ‘Where is he?’ Turns out, he was downstairs arranging flowers because that was a main activity that day. I laughed pretty hard at that.”