Honored
centenarians at
Trowbridge recall
their early lives.

Esther Allweiss Ingber

I Contributing Writer

B

lue skies with wispy clouds, fall-
flavored yet mild temperatures
in the high 60s — Sept. 16 was
another great day to be alive for six indi-
viduals ages 102 and counting at the Park
at Trowbridge in Southfield.
At 107, Milton Ross was the eldest of
six honorees — five of them Jewish — at
the Centenarians Celebration held at
Trowbridge, a Brookdale-managed inde-
pendent retirement community. Jenny
Marroni, the facility's director of resident
programs and transportation, arranged the
daylong, first-ever event as a way to show
respect and appreciation for Trowbridge
residents now in their second century of
life.
This fun day on the patio for residents,
family and visitors had a 1920s-'40s
theme, evident in the staff's flapper and
gangster attire and the two old-time gaso-
line pumps on loan. Features of the cel-
ebration included a singer and keyboards
player performing songs from the honor-
ees' heyday and a display of six classic cars
— a 1928 Duesenberg worth $1.5 million,
among them.
Members of the Fred Astaire Dance
Studio demonstrated a few numbers
before bringing up guests, in various states
of enthusiasm, to take a whirl with them.

20

October 2 • 2014

Above: The centenarians: (front) Harriet
Johnson, 101; Lenore Dunsky-Weiss, 102;
Meyer Blackman, 102; Minna Kaufman,
102; Faye Rice, 103; and Milton Ross,
107; (back) associates from the Park
at Trowbridge as well as drivers of the
classic cars.

Food, of course, was very important for
the occasion. An all-American grilled
hamburger and hot dog lunch was fol-
lowed in the afternoon with root beer and
Vernor's ice cream floats, decorated mini-
cupcakes, an assortment of vintage can-
dies and boxes of Cracker Jack and candy
cigarettes.
The special women of the day couldn't
be missed in their feathered tiaras, and
the men looked sharp, too. Besides Ross,
they included Faye Rice, 103, with Lenore
Dunsky-Weiss and Congregation Beth
Shalom members Minna Kaufman and
Meyer Blackman, all 102.
Panel boards with each honoree's name
in fancy script displayed pictures with cap-
tions from the person's life. In an official
part of the program, a full biography of
each person was read aloud before he or
she received a birthday proclamation from
the city of Southfield. Five out of six hon-
orees have lived at Trowbridge for 14 years
or more.
The centenarians are in varying degrees
of mental and physical health.
Honoree Faye Rice, who once lived with
her husband in Oregon, can recall back to
when she was 5. Those memories revolve
around living in the Illinois countryside
with her parents, in a house that had kero-
sene lamps and an outhouse.
Minna Kaufman, born in Cologne,
Germany, lost her parents and two of her

Milton Ross, 107, and his son, Dr. Robert Ross, check out a classic car.

six siblings in the Holocaust. She and her
husband resided in Brooklyn before mov-
ing to Detroit.
Meyer Blackman, a native Detroiter and
big Tigers fan, rode the horses in New
York City's Central Park at age 95. He still
has sisters, ages 88 and 90.
Speaking at the celebration, Milton
Ross recalled moving from Connecticut to
Michigan on an overnight train at the age
of 10. When a passenger exclaimed, "Oh,
what a pretty girl:' Ross made his mother
cut off his curls. "But she kept them in a
box for the rest of her life he said.
A former high school English teacher,
Ross still writes poetry for the Trowbridge
monthly newsletter. With his son Robert's
help, Ross had his poetry published in a
book. He's written enough poems since
then to imagine a second edition. And
why not? Life begins at 107.

❑

Faye Rice, 103, takes the crown.

