Franklin man turns 104 - still shares home with 96-year-old wife

pressreporter@thefranklinpress.com

Macon County resident and centenarian David Elliott was born in 1905, the same year a young man named Albert Einstein published a groundbreaking paper on his Special Theory of Relativity.

Elliott has lived through two World Wars and witnessed myriad other momentous historical events including the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, the birth of the Cold War and its eventual demise with the fall of the Berlin Wall and most recently the election of the nation's first black president.

But perhaps even more interesting than these points of reference on a timeline, Elliott, who turns 104 on Jan. 10, will celebrate his birthday at home with a Sunday dinner with his 96 year-old wife Sylvia and some family and friends.

This is because despite his triple-digit age, David and Sylvia still reside in the Addington Bridge home where they have lived for the past four years. Prior to that they lived in Bradenton, Fla., for five years and Ludington, Mich., before that, but never in a nursing home.

Although it is the second marriage for both of them, the two have been married for 62 years. The pair each has a daughter, grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren.

Asked what stood out to him as the most significant/memorable historical event that he had witnessed in his more than a century inhabiting the earth, David said it was the Great Depression (1929 was also the year his father died), when he was working for the Michigan Millers Insurance Company in Lansing.

'"That was a real rough situation because there was no clearinghouse for banking at that time," David said. He recalled that the cashier of their company would have checks that would clear one bank, but would then be tied up in the closing of the next bank. He said he could remember the first bank holiday as well.

David credits his longevity to staying active and moving. David said he still walks up and down the stairs at their home.

Additionally, the Elliotts learned to play golf when he was in his 80s and Sylvia was in her 70s (they always walked the course), although David is no longer able to play due to his eyesight. He also used to walk two miles to work when he was employed by Michigan Millers. "You have to keep moving," David said.

He was also a charter member of the Optimist Club, and said he has tried to live by its creed "to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind" and "to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best."

Press photo/Colin McCandless David and Sylvia Elliott are looking forward to David's 104th birthday Saturday.

Having an active sense of humor probably doesn't hurt either.

David and Sylvia poke and tease one another throughout the interview with the kind of playful, easy banter and rapport you might expect from a couple who have been bonded in matrimony for six decades. David peppers his life's recollections with jokes and funny stories and Sylvia occasionally chimes in with good-natured jabs.

Sylvia says she and David agreed early on in their marriage there would be no angry arguments and they would sit down and talk things out civilly.

David pipes up and shares an example, recalling that on one of their treks to Alaska she wanted to drive and he wanted to fly. 'We compromised and flew," quips David.

Of course it's the simple things in life that can really make a difference too, like a nice meal to start the day. "For 62 years, he gets up and gets my breakfast every morning," Sylvia said. "That's pretty good."

The couple is also still active politically. Both the Elliotts voted in the 2008 presidential election, according to Sylvia.

And speaking of affairs of state, asked if he had met any famous historical figures or celebrities in his lifetime, David recounted a trip to Washington D.C. with an old boss of his who had a relative working in politics.

Thanks to this connection, David and Sylvia got into a joint session of Congress, on a day in which the Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi) happened to be there. The Shah and his wife walked right by them after the session was over, David remembers.

Additionally, they were given a special behind-the-scenes tour of the White House (John F. Kennedy was president at the time), and saw some of the places you could not go on a regular tour.

The Elliotts have traveled extensively during their lifetime, and have been to all 50 states (including Alaska twice) and nearly every province in Canada. They have not journeyed as much abroad, going out of the country only once to Caracas, Venezuela.

David background

David was born in Shiawassee County, Mich., near the capital of Lansing. His dad worked as a sharecropper on a farm in Shiawassee County, and David got his name from the name of the farm for which his dad worked.

He was child number 17 on his dad's side of the family. His dad had three kids with his first wife who died, two children with his second wife and 12 children with his third wife (David's mom). He was the last one of his mother's 12 children. She was 45 years old when she gave birth to David, he recalls.

In 1918, one of his brothers who was seven years his senior was called into service in World War I. The brother was on his way to Camp Custer, Michigan, and then the Armistice was signed the next day, ending the war. "And his train was turned around and he was sent back home," David said.

Upon returning home, his brother went to work in Lansing, leaving David alone to work the farm with his father. David had finished the eighth grade and just started high school at this time. His duties at the farm became too demanding in his brother's absence and he quit school to work full time.

He was out of school for seven years and then attended a business school that did not require any high school. He took up accounting. David finished a course and later went to work for an insurance company in the accounting department.

David did work for a public accountant doing audits for several years and later worked a few years as an auditor for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.

He eventually bought an insurance agency in Ludington, Mich., located along the shoreline of Lake Michigan and did this for a number of years.

After selling his insurance agency, David got into real estate. The University of Michigan had a training program for real estate, which upon completion of all the courses, you received a Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI) designation. David not only completed the courses, but also is a past president of the Real Estate Alumni of the University of Michigan.

"Pretty good for a high school dropout," Sylvia says of David's accomplishments.

David retired from the real estate business at age 65 in 1970. He moved around a bit during his lifetime, including working three years for an insurance agency in Kansas City, Mo., (they lived in Kansas City, Ks,) as an auditor and supervisor of systems and procedures. After living there he then moved to Ludington, Michigan.

David shared some other interesting tidbits from his youth.

When he was working on big farms during the summer in the early 1920s, David was getting $30 a month including room and board. The last year he was on the farm they used a tractor to plow, but did not use it for the rest of work. Most of the work was still done with horses.

They would get up early and feed and harness the horses, milk the cows and then eat breakfast. Then they would work 10 hours in the field, which all involved walking. "So I walked a lot of miles," David recounts.

David bought his first car, a Ford Touring, at the age of 14 for $435. He also recalled that when he was attending school he walked two miles to his school because there was no bus.

"There's been an awful lot of changes in the last 100 years," David said.

Although reaching 104 is an impressive age milestone in itself, David still has a ways to go before eclipsing any world records.

The nation's and now believed to be the world's oldest known living person is Gertrude Baines, 114, of Los Angeles and the oldest living man in America is currently Walter Breuning, 112 of Montana, according to Dr. Stephen Coles (co-founder) of the Gerontology Research Group, which tracks living supercentenarians (people over the age of 110) worldwide.