Secret To Downers Grove Man's 101 Years: 'It Just Happens'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- You're never too old to get in a little exercise — physically or mentally. Just ask one of the oldest people in the Chicago area.
Fred Kays is 101 years old, and lives in a condo in Downers Grove. He grew up on a farm in southeast Ohio and says he didn't have electricity until he was a senior in high school.
Now, though, he goes online wirelessly on his iPad and he's on Facebook. He also uses a desktop computer and has a cell phone. He says of the changes over time, "It's so extreme, it's hard to believe."
The World War II veteran and Purple Heart recipient says using new technology is one of the things that keeps him going. He says going online keeps him mentally sharp.
"I think that's almost as important as physical exercise," he says.
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Kays also physically exercises three days a week. He rides his scooter two miles from his home to the health and wellness center at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. He says he likes it for its health benefits and the socialization with other people.
At the fitness center, he does exercises in a chair two days a week, because he has a hard time walking. He exercises in a pool on the third day. Included in those exercises is the use of dumbbells and resistance bands.
Kays says he didn't always work out, but he did get in exercise simply by walking on the job as an engineer with the Michigan Department of Transportation; and with his wife, Martha, with whom he was married for 71 years.
"When we were anyplace, if we had time we would go for a walk; partly to see the territory, partly for the walk," Kays says.
Kays also stays active by getting out of his condo. On Friday nights during the summer, he says he likes to scooter over to downtown Downers Grove for the displays of vintage cars. He also occasionally likes to stop by the local VFW post, where he proudly wears his World War II baseball cap and says other vets are more than happy to buy him a drink or two.
What's his secret to such a long life?
"There isn't. It just happens. Of course, I don't drink a lot. I don't smoke," he says.
Genetics don't hurt, either. Although he had a sister die when she was 77, and a younger brother die in his early 80s, he also had one other brother who lived to be 95.
