Many gather in East Hanover, N.J. to celebrate a very special man's 100th birthday
EAST HANOVER, N.J. -- There was a special surprise Sunday for a New Jersey man who has pretty much seen it all.
Gerry Gemian was born in the 1920s, lived through the Great Depression, and served in World War II.
On Sunday in East Hanover, 170 of his closets friends gathered to help him mark a major milestone, CBS2's John Elliott reported.
Gemian turns 100 this Wednesday, so to really surprise him, you gotta throw the party a couple of days early.
"I can't believe it! It's so great! I got all misty-eyed when he came walking in," daughter-in-law Vivian Gemian said. "He really is a remarkable person and I just feel honored to be here today."
"You look at a person like that and the life he's lived and it just makes you think that you can kind of do anything you want in this world," Montville Chief of Police Andrew Caggiano said.
"We all hope we can be 100 years old and be like Gerry. He comes into my office and he says, 'Come on, let's do some pushups!' and I just laugh all the time, because it's hard to do pushups with Gerry," friend Dr. Joseph Salamone said.
"I think this room is a testament to you know, his just being an open, friendly person," granddaughter Kaitlyn Gemian said.
"He has so many friends, way more friends than I have. He still tap dances with me. He always wants me to dance with him, so much fun," granddaughter Kara Gemian said.
When asked how he was feeling, Gerry Gemian said, "Fantastic! I'm so shocked and stunned with all these people here."
"I used to say, when I was a teenager, he was my best friend because he was always the one that said, 'Hey, if you get in trouble at home, I got a room at my house,'" granddaughter Kirstein Zalewski said.
"Gerry was my very first manager at ITT Defense 36 years ago," former co-worker Deborah Boone Koy said. "I don't think I would have had the management accomplishments without him."
"One thing that always sustained me is keep going, keep going. No matter what happens, or what the hell happened. I always managed to move somehow or another," Gerry Gemian.
"You have to keep pushing. You have to move forward. He's a testament to that. A hundred years? He kept pushing," Boy said.
Gerry Gemian said it's true, he still drives.
"Yeah every morning," he said, adding if he still lives by himself and walks stairs every day. "I go get my New York Post. I get my coffee, read the paper."
"People ask me, 'How do you get to be 100?' They always ask, so I always tell them, eat a lot of hot peppers and drink a lot of wine. What else could I say, right?" he added.
Gerry Gemian is still working on his bucket list, and is planning a trip to Italy soon.