Feel-Good Friday: The Honoring a Supercentenarian Edition

Idaho Falls Fire Department via AP

Imagine living to be 110 years old. Vincent Dransfield of Little Falls, New Jersey celebrated that milestone on March 28, becoming the eighth-oldest man alive. 

Advertisement

Vincent celebrated at his former engine house, Singac Volunteer Fire Company #3, where he volunteered for many years. It served as a lifeline for him when his wife died. He turned the firefighters into a second family. 

Women make up 90% of supercentenarians worldwide, according to the New England Centenarian Study. Vincent is one of the few men in the group of 110-plus-year-olds. He has lived a healthy life and only complains of some knee pain. 

His is an amazing story. He lives alone, has no home aide or extra help, cooks his food, walks up and down his three-level home, and drives. He has not suffered from cancer, dementia, or other major diseases. He has no headaches or backaches.

Yet, he isn't a health nut. He eats what he wants. Vincent credits milk for his good health.

He smoked cigarettes for 20 years and worked his whole life from age 15 to his late 70s. He eats whatever he likes — including hamburgers, milk chocolate, and Italian food, has an occasional beer, drinks coffee every day, and is amused by people who run.

“He laughs at people who jog. He’s like, ‘Where are they running to?,’” his granddaughter Erica Lista told “Today.”

Dransfield — a dad of one, grandfather of three, and great-grandfather of seven — credits luck, milk, and doing what he loves for his long and healthy life.

Advertisement

These days he adds some Ovaltine to his milk, adding flavor and vitamins. He acknowledges he has been very lucky in his lifetime. 

Vincent dropped out of school before high school to help support his family. By the age of 15, he began working at a dairy farm. He delivered milk for five years while he had his own unlimited supply

“I was drinking milk and eating well because I worked on a farm. And I often go back and think they gave me a good start in life and for my bones in my body,” Dransfield said.

He credits the fire department with keeping him going. He noted the many friends he has made there. He had a career as an auto parts manager but he spent 80 years as a volunteer at the firehouse, including a time as the fire chief. His wife of 54 years died in 1992 and the people at the firehouse became his family.

Vincent said his time as a volunteer with the fire department provided exercise when they responded to a call. His granddaughter spoke about his friends.

“After my grandmother passed away, that’s really what kept him going. Every day, he would go to the firehouse from 3 to 5, and all the old guys would sit there and hang out. That was like his family,” Lista told the publication.

Advertisement

Vincent keeps a positive mindset. “Knowing people and loving people makes me live longer.” 

His granddaughter helps monitor his driving and says he's good.

“He drives completely fine — better than some other people I see,” Erica Lista, Dransfield’s granddaughter, tells TODAY.com.

She and her brother periodically check Dransfield’s driving to make sure that he’s doing OK. Family, friends and doctors are amazed by his healthy longevity, she says, noting she has more health issues at 49 than her grandfather does at 110.

His is a great story. May he celebrate another trip around the sun next March.


Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement