By Anne W. Semmes
On February 9, 2022, Bernard Pressner will turn 100 years. To celebrate his birthday the Greenwich Sentinel stopped by to ask him a few questions, and from the looks of him, 100 is the new 80.
GS: How will you celebrate your 100th birthday?
BP: With my son Saul and all of our cousins. Some of them are doctors – one of the doctors worked on President Reagan when he was shot. He’s coming in from Washington. But we’re not celebrating it on my birthday because the weather could be lousy. So, we’re putting it off until March.
GS: Who else in your family has lived to 100?
BP: Nobody. My brother lived until he was 55 because he ate all kinds of junk. He was in the dress business. There were four of us siblings, including two sisters. I’m the third one. I’m the only one that’s living. I eat a lot of salmon. And I drink three Boosts a day, morning, noon, and night. I like the chocolate one. I don’t do any cooking at all. I bring stuff in.
GS: What do you attribute your longevity to?
BP: Having a wonderful family and a wonderful son, who’s a DMD, Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry and famous dentist in Manhattan. I met Meg Ryan in his office, Mike Myers. He’s got all of these celebrities.
GS How many knee, hip, or shoulder replacements have you had?
BP: I’ve never had any. I do have a torn rotator cuff. That’s why I go to my physical therapist.
GS I hear you are a golfer. Do you still play?0
BP: I used to play nine holes. But not now.
GS: What do you do for exercise?
BP: I do a lot of walking. At Byram Beach. There are lovely places to walk along the water. I take the car. I try not to drive at night when it’s difficult. But I have no problem driving at all.
GS: What are you most proud of in your life?
BP: That I reached this age of 100. That I accomplished so much during my life, and I had a wonderful life. I was a concert violinist. I went to Juilliard for four years before I went into the military service. And my teacher was Frank Kneisel– I played in his Kneisel String Quartet. Hs father Franz Kneisel was a conductor of the Boston Symphony. So, I had a wonderful teacher. And I did that until I went into the service because I was going to be drafted.
GS: What part of the military service were you in?
BP: I flew a P51 Mustang out of New Guinea in WWII.” Contributed photo.BP: The United States Air Force. I served in New Guinea. It was all jungle. I flew a P51 Mustang. And we were fighting the Japanese Zeros. It was right below Australia. And they wanted to take over Australia and the United States. And I shot down 10 Japanese Zeros into the Pacific. I helped the country. And when I got out, I was a buyer with the May Company. I loved that. And after 25 years, one of the top companies in sporting goods wanted me to be their representative for the East Coast. I worked with them for about another 15 years. Badminton, volleyball, soccer equipment, games for the family. I loved that.
GS: What decade in your life meant the most?
BP: I guess getting married. It was in 1948 when Israel became a country.
GS: What is your progeny? Grandkids?
BP: I don’t have any grandchildren. I just have my son. I see him in good weather every week.
GS: Do you still date?
BP: I was dating until a year ago a lovely gal who lived in White Plains. She was a widow. And we were together for about five years. She died in her sleep. She had some kind of a heart transplant. She was introduced by Emily, one of the members of our Temple Sholom. And we hit it off right away. GS: What are you most concerned about?
BP: I think the country with our leadership. I didn’t care for Trump at all. And this guy Biden is trying.
GS: If you could tell the President of the United States one thing now what would it be?
BP: Try to listen to the needs of people, which I think is very important.
GS: What’s your counsel for the younger generation?
BP: Well, the younger generation – it’s a good question. By the way Victoria, my lovely and late wife of 63 years did all those things up on the wall. She was a wonderful painter. She was also a buyer for the May Company.
GS: Do you listen to music?
BP: All the time to WQXR.
GS: What’s your favorite piece of music?
BP: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Number two. They made a popular song out of it. “Full Moon and Open Arms.”
GS: I hear you are a cantor at the Temple Sholom.
BP: Every Friday at one o’clock we do the Shabbat service for the Greenwich Hospital patients. They have me singing a lot of the Jewish Hebrew songs. And they do it on Zoom.
GS: What’s on your bedside reading table?
BP: I read this writer Stuart Woods. I must have read 40 or 50 of his books. They’re very interesting. He writes about New York. All very inspiring.
GS: Do you dream?
BP: We all dream.
GS: Do you believe in life after death?
BP: No, I really don’t.
GS: If you had a magic wand what would you wish for?
BP: I’ve got so much now. I don’t think I’d wish for anything more than that. I’ve got a great son. I had a wonderful wife – and a lovely life. And a great family. My father was an Orthodox Jewish gentleman. And we went to Temple every Saturday, the Sabbath.
GS: What are you looking forward to?
BP: Just staying well. And being able to partake in different functions.
