Local resident turns 100
On July 20, Pioneer Village resident Al Zilisch turned 100.
In his honor, more than 75 residents of the Pioneer Village Community celebrated in his honor last week. He and his wife are extremely well liked there, said many.
There was a large community dinner with cake and well wishes.
One of the organizers was Kent Wild. “There is a lot of excitement in this community over his birthday.”
Zilisch was born on July 20, 1911, and shared many memories from his home, with wife of over 70 years Nova.
“Our baby – our youngest child – is 65,” Nova said. “We knew each other two weeks and three days when we got married.”
“I knew I was going to marry her and that was that,” he said.
The two are inseparable, one of his secrets to long life. Also doing what they love to do – and traveling – have been a big part of his life.
“We lived for awhile in Mazatlan, Mexico, just deciding we wanted to go there,” he said. “We have a lot of fun.”
He’s had a lot of careers, he said. “My parents had a hardware and plumbing and heating business. I’d go in after school and learn the business – I was 14 or 15 at the time.”
At one point he even built diesel engines for submarines, and parts for nuclear power plants.
Fishing has always been one of his favorite things. It was one of the reason they moved to Florida. “But my favorite fishing here was the bluegills in Lake Trafford. I always liked freshwater fishing.”
One of his favorite fishing stories happened when he was growing up in Juno, Wisconsin. “My buddy Smiley and I caught 40 pounds of fish and sold them for 15 cents a pound to be able to go on dates.”
Besides fishing, he also loved to hunt and has always loved reading.
When asked if he has any special diet that has helped him live a long life, he said, “Nothing special.”
“He love to go to McDonalds,” Nova said. “We have a group of people from Illinois we know there, that we talk to every time we go.”
The sentiment from his community? Happy Birthday Al, and many more.