On Dec. 12, 2011, Dr. Fred Goldman celebrated his 100th birthday in remarkable fashion: by showing up to work.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
At 100, Dr. Fred Goldman still makes house calls.
He must, he explains. That’s where the patients are.
"If they’re sick and can’t leave home," he said, "I go to see them."
On Monday, they came to see him. Patients, friends and family — some using walkers, some in strollers — gathered in numbers passing the century mark at the inner-city office Goldman calls "the dump" to throw a surprise birthday party for the internist who is the oldest licensed physician practicing medicine in the state of Ohio.
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The JTA Archive has documented plenty of impressive centenarians, including a college graduate, a jig-dancer, and a world record-setting sprinter. One super-centenarian — that’s 110-years old — danced the kazatzka in 1930.
We know what you’re thinking. What’s their secret? In an interview with The Forward, Goldman jokingly explained that he isn’t too sure himself:
Goldman is a man of few vices, but admits that he does not exercise — he just keeps moving instead. He never smoked cigarettes, rarely smoked a pipe, and gave up smoking Cuban cigars ages ago. Not much of a drinker, he enjoys an occasional beer and drinks wine ‘only on Passover.’
Goldman survived major heart surgery and prostate cancer, and has no idea why he has lasted so long, and with such vitality. He credits his desire to keep working, but admitted, “I have no secrets,” as to why he has made it to a vigorous 100. “Maybe it’s because my office is a mess and I keep saying I’m going to clean it up,” he joked.
Happy belated birthday, Dr. Goldman!
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