Thursday, April 25, 2024
Ralph Seals, right, attempts to blow out his birthday candles, while his daughter-in-law Marcia Seals, lends him a hand.
Ralph Seals, retired Army Air Corps veteran, is all smiles during his 104th birthday party held at the Courtyards at Lake Granbury on Feb. 6.
You’re never too old to play dress up.
Just ask retired military veteran Ralph Seals, who recently celebrated his 104th birthday in style with a “top hats and tiaras” party.
Seals, a resident of the Courtyards at Lake Granbury, had a birthday party celebration like no other on Feb. 6, complete with live musical entertainment from local singer Baileigh Rhodes.
Growing up, Seals spent time in both Lone Wolf and Hobart, Oklahoma. He played football in school, but his real passion was watersports.
“I had a good time in high school. I was small but was pretty active,” he said. “I really enjoyed watersports. I could handle that easier than football. I did different things like that that I really enjoyed. I was a pretty good water-skier and enjoyed that more than any other sport. I spent a lot of my younger years out at the lake.”
Seals worked as a mechanic in the Army Air Corps and retired as a master sergeant after about five years in the service.
“I was glad to get in there and get going, but I'd rather be sitting here on my butt,” he said, with a chuckle. “I had a great time though.”
He married his wife, Pansy, and they had one son: Ralph Seals Jr., who currently resides in DeCordova with his wife, Marcia.
For the larger part of his career, Seals owned and operated a service gas station with his younger brother — a career he continued for about 20 years.
Following the decline of his wife’s memory, Seals moved along with Pansy to a senior living facility about 15 years ago so he could get his wife the memory care that she needed.
“The best thing he did in his life was take care of mom,” Ralph Seals Jr. said.
“She (Pansy) passed away about 12 years ago, and they were the star dancers at the senior living center,” Marcia said. “After she passed away, he was the guy who danced with part of the school because there weren't that many men there compared to women, so he's a dancer.”
Seals said he’s not sure about the secret to living as long as he has, but Marcia has her own theory.
“He was known in Hobart as ‘The man that walked that entire town,’” she said. “He walked miles and miles, so that's why (he’s lived so long), and he’s worked hard all his life.”
When asked if he ever thought he would make it to 104, Seals chuckled and replied, “Oh, no. I was too busy.”
He admitted he’s not as active as he used to be, but he said he doesn’t mind.
“You gotta slow down and go where (your body) wants you to, instead of where you want to go, but I'm gonna get there eventually,” he said. “I don't know if I've got 10 days left. I don't know how long I do have, but I don't plan on doing very much. This is about as much as I'm planning on doing, sitting in my chair.”
Overall, according to Seals, he has lived a “pretty good life.”
He added, “I've had a few bad moments and everybody else has too, I guess, but I've come through all right."
Seals has resided at the Courtyards at Lake Granbury for about a year and a half. He has two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
