Mildred Sacks of Ventnor turns 100 on Monday, March 25,
VENTNOR – Mildred Sacks has lived in the city for a little more than 10 years, but it was evident Friday, March 22 that she’s made a lot of friends during one of her 10 decades on Earth.
The centenarian will celebrate her 100th birthday Monday, March 25, but on Friday she enjoyed a “royal” birthday bash at the Ventnor Senior Center.
“It still hasn’t sunk in,” she said.
The room was filled with dozens of her senior pals and decorated with a great big cake and purple tablecloths – “the color of royalty,” she said.
“I’m royalty for a day,” she said.
Also present were her son David, 72, his wife Loretta and their daughter Megan, and three of her nine great-grandsons, Riley, Carter and Owen.
Jack Fox, CEO of the Milton & Betty Katz Jewish Community Center in Margate, presented her with a bouquet of flowers and a plaque and asked that he be invited to her 200th birthday party.
Ventnor Police Chief Doug Biagi also presented her with a certificate of achievement for completing 100 years without a single arrest.
Her son David Sacks, who lives in Egg Harbor Township, recalled growing up in Hoboken with his mother preparing huge family celebrations, being surrounded by lots of food and games, and hearing the clicking of mahjong tiles late into the night. He especially enjoyed the leftover desserts he ate for breakfast.
“But she always had my back,” he said, including when as a child, he was found dancing in the coat room.
“Mom and I were very close. I went to kindergarten when I was 4-years-old and she came with me for days because she didn’t want to be without me,” he said.
100-year-old Mildred Sacks with her son David, 72, his wife Loretta and their daughter Megan, and three of her nine great-grandsons, Riley, Carter and Owen.
A Polish immigrant, Mildred Friedman arrived on the shores of America with her parents Sarah and David in 1920, when she was just 18 months old. The family settled in Hoboken where she was raised and eventually met her husband Harold.
“We were only married three weeks before he went overseas,” she said.
Harold served in the Army during World War II in the European Theater, returning stateside as a captain.
“He was attached to an Air Force brigade and was in the military police,” she said.
Harold made a life for the family selling shoes at retail stores before he retired at age 75.
During the war, she worked as a nurse’s aide, but after the war, she went to business school where she learned how to type and take Gregg shorthand. She worked as a secretary for various companies, including a housewares importing company until she was 72, commuting to New York City on the PATH train. The only reason she retired is because the company went out of business, she said.
She’s been a widow for 30 years, “but my son wanted me down here to be near him, so I moved into the Shalom House in 2008. I like it here and I’ve made a lot of friends,” she said.
Mildred goes to the senior center at least once a week, spends Thursday afternoons going to ShopRite for groceries, and gets her hair done at a local salon. Other days she plays mahjong and Canasta or socializes at the Shalom House. Her health is good considering her age, she said.
“Everyone has their problems, but as long as I can get up in the morning, I’m happy,” she said.
She attributes her longevity to “just luck and good genes.”
The youngest of 10 siblings, she had five brothers and four sisters, one of whom died as an infant.
“I’m the only one left of the siblings, but I still have a big family with all my nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews,” she said.
Although she only had one son, he had three children and the family grew to include nine great-grandchildren.
“Losing those you love, including my husband, siblings and parents was the difficult part of life, but now, with all these great-grandchildren, I get to enjoy them. That’s the bonus in life,” she said.
They are all gathering next week – some coming from as far away as Chicago, California, Texas and London – to celebrate her milestone birthday at Atlantic City Country Club.
“Some I haven’t seen for a long time. I hope I can recognize their children,” she said.
