Celebrating over a century of life

When Amelia Chapman was born, World War I was underway, Woodrow Wilson was president and Russia was ruled by Czar Nicholas II, it was 1915.

The Mount Vernon native has lived at the Nautilus Hotel in Atlantic Beach, an area senior hotel, for roughly six years. Chapman will celebrate her 103rd birthday on Feb. 7. She is the facility’s oldest resident.

A mother of three, Bill, Anne and Robert, a grandmother of six and great-grandmother of nine, three of which are starting college this year, Chapman met her husband, Bill, while working at the same company, MetLife Inc. She worked there for 12 years, Bill for 40 years.

“My husband and I were married for about 20 years,” Chapman said. “He was a little bit older than I was, but he was a wonderful man, he was a good husband and a wonderful father.”

After Bill died of a heart attack in 1967, Chapman lived alone in Massapequa Park. She lived there for 59 years. She then returned to work, this time for Nassau County, until she was 70.

During those years, she traveled across America and Europe with friends, stopping in Ireland three times and meeting her mother’s family. “I went through this country too, to the Hawaiian islands and all around,” she said. “I’ve been around a lot.”

Chapman was very independent before she came to live at the Nautilus. “I was driving until I was 93,” she said. “I remember, I stopped for gas one day and the man said, ‘that man driving that car is 96.’ And I answered well I’m 93!”
Her son, Bill, said he gave up trying to convince her to move out of her home when she was around 88. She told him when she thought it was time.

What’s her secret? Your guess is as good as her’s. “I don’t know, I’m surprised! I lived a decent life in all and I have my religion,” is how she responded after Melody Gerand, the Nautilus activity director, asked how she’s lived so long. “I always thank God for being so good to me.”

Her father lived well into his 80s, but her mother died in her 50s, as did her brother, and her sister lived into her 70s. “She even outlived her pets,” said Bill with a chuckle, remembering his mother’s cat.

Since living in the Nautilus, Chapman has kept herself busy with books and games. She used to play bingo, but lately she’s been doing crosswords and Sudoku puzzles. She and a friend have their own book club where they trade their favorites.

Residents will celebrate her birthday, although she may prefer Italian food or breakfast to a cake. “She used to not come out and eat all her meals in her room unless it was spaghetti and meatballs,” Gerand said. “Or pancakes in the morning.”

Bill lives in Baldwin, about a half hour from his mother, and said he makes sure she’s at all the holiday gatherings. “She loves her grandkids like crazy. It can be a little tough as she’s hard of hearing, but I see her looking at everyone and smiling like crazy.”