Meet The 101-Year-Old South Dakotan Bowling In The Senior Games
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - If John Zilverberg wins gold at the National Senior Games this week, it's not because he's the only bowler over 100.
The South Dakota resident practices once a week, catching a ride to the nearest bowling alley, a 98-mile round trip. He's still driving; his kids just won't let him on the highway anymore.
There's something that happens when you live to 101: People keep asking you questions like you have all the answers.
"I don't know if I ever learned anything," Zilverberg said. "It's just the way things happened. I was lucky."
But when you have the chance to share a table with a 101-yea-old, there are things you want to know. And Zilverberg is happy to offer whatever wisdom he has.
"I don't know if the world was any different, but the people are different," he said.
He was born in rural South Dakota in 1913, making him older than fortune cookies, band-aids and the pop-up toaster.
He lived through the Great Depression.
"I was 21," he said. "I took a job for 50 cents a day pitching manure."
He served in World War II.
"After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, I signed up in the Marines," he said.
And of the 17 presidents he's lived through, he says FDR was the best.
He said the best years of his life were in his 20s.
"We went to a lot of dances and we had a lot of fun," he said.
The secret to a long life? Have good genes, he says, but also keep active.
"Don't sit down in your rocking chair and quit, because you'll never make it that way," he said. "Get out and do something."
And the secret to a life well lived?
"If you're honest and work hard, I think you'll usually get along pretty well," he said.
Zilverberg also competes in several track and field events at the Senior Games.
And his birthday is right around the corner. He turns 102 on Aug. 2.
