are, and thus special, in our society. They comprise just 0.0173 percent of the United State population and just 0.19 percent of the population of those aged 70 and older.
There were 53,364 individuals 100 or older as recorded in the 2010 U.S. Census — 82.8 percent of them female.
About a third lived in nursing homes, another third with others in a household and another third alone.
Chula Vista is home to one very active, civic-minded 101-year-old who still pays property and income taxes.
“I can still sign my name on checks,” Norbert Stein proudly declares.
Stein, who arrived in this country in 1935 from Germany to live the American Dream, is looking forward to his 102nd birthday in March. He said his outlook as a centenarian is simple.
“I take things day by day,” he said. “Every day I get is a gift from God.”
How does a 101-year-old stay healthy? In Stein’s case, please pass on the sugar.
“When I was 14, a butcher’s apprentice in Germany, I used to eat a whole unsmoked sausage,” he said. “Now that I’m nearly 102, no fat, no sugar. I have diabetes. I cannot eat anything sweet.
“I eat a lot of food, but no sugar. I eat chicken soup, a lot of soups, soft vegetables because I only have three teeth.”
To turn a phrase, Stein is his name and no sugar is his game.
While a long life has created wisdom, maintaining it does require some regular maintenance. Stein requires three injections of insulin each day, and takes, by his count “about 10 pills” every morning to keep everything else running.
“I see five doctors — one for my heart, one for my skin, a urologist, one for my eyes and a general practitioner,” he related. “My cardiologist said to come back in one year; he said I had the heart of a 47-year-old.”
Still, the centenarian refuses to give up KFC.
Exercise also keeps him moving. He recently took a stroll along Imperial Beach. He was proud to say that he made it down to the water with a walker.
“I couldn’t roll it on the sand, so I had to pick it up and put it back down,” he said, motioning with his hands, while adding a laugh.
Stein remains alert and interested in both local and worldwide events. Though he can no longer read newspapers, he is an avid follower of CNN.
He plans to cast his vote in the upcoming Chula Vista mayoral election, making him perhaps the oldest voter in the city. Will Stein cast his vote for Jerry Rindone or Mary Salas?
He’s not committing at the present time.
“I like the two of them,” Stein said. “Mary Salas knows much about the city and Jerry Rindone knows a lot about our schools. I will pick one of the two when it gets closer to the November elections.”
Since moving to Chula Vista in 1958, Stein has maintained close ties to the city’s political heartbeat. In fact, one former Chula Vista mayor told Stein he’d likely lose if Stein, the Poet of Chula Vista, ever decided to run for the job.
It was a supreme compliment paid to Stein by an elected city official.
Stein will pay a compliment to one of the mayoral candidates when he casts his vote in the upcoming election.
