SHELBURNE — William H. Umstatter of Mechanic Street turned 100 on Feb. 20, but his long years of life were celebrated Monday evening, when two selectmen and one gold-headed cane paid him a visit.
Selectmen Matthew Marchese and Chairman Robert Manners also brought a proclamation to Umstatter, which is to be framed and given to him from the full board.
“I had nothing to do with it,” the sharp-witted Umstatter said of his age. “I had help,” he said, glancing at his caregivers and his son, William D. Umstatter. Although only one caregiver was on duty, the others came for the celebration.
Manners remarked that Umstatter, born in 1918, had lived “during the most eventful century in history.” Umstatter moved from Long Island, N.Y., to Shelburne in 1993, with his wife, Willa Mae, who died in 2013.
During World War II, Umstatter spent 30 months in the US Infantry — 15 months state-side and 15 months in Europe. He was at the Battle of the Bulge and arrived in Normandy one day after “D-Day.”
“I was lucky I wasn’t hurt,” he remarked.
When Umstatter returned to civilian life, he was an offset printer and worked for 25 years in a Wall Street brokerage firm.
Umstatter is an avid reader, keeps up with current news and likes going to tag sales in the neighborhood. “I don’t get around a lot to them – but when I do, I get some books,” he said.
Besides being the oldest resident in town, Umstatter also declared himself “the oldest member of my family.”
When asked his secret for a long, healthy life, Umstatter replied: “The secret to making it to 100 is a good appetite and a good doctor.”
In August 1908, the publisher of the Boston Post newspaper sent the boards of selectmen in 700 New England towns a gold-headed ebony cane, along with the request that it be given to the oldest male citizen of the town, to be used by him for as long as he lived. However, the cane would belong to the town and not to the man who received it. The canes were made from ebony and had 14-carat gold heads that were hand decorated and engraved with each town’s name. In 1930, women were also eligible to receive canes, according to the online Boston Post Cane Information Center.
The Boston Post went out of business in 1957, and many of the canes have since been lost or not returned to town officials. For that reason, many towns including Shelburne give the recipients an award, but keep the cane itself in their town halls.