Rothenberg strong at 103

“He sings!” Franklin Rothenberg said about his father, William, 103.

“Oh, come on,” William replied, annoyed.

The younger Rothenberg began to sing “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.”

“What are the words?” he asked his father, while stumbling over the lyrics.

William finished the verse, with the tune coming through despite his barely audible voice.

Rothenberg is one of roughly 451,000 centenarians across the world, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. While they remain rare, their proportion of the total population has increased with time.

William Rothenberg was born on Oct. 4, 1913. He grew up in New York City, graduated from NYU Law in 1937 and was admitted to the bar in 1938. He moved to Rockville Centre in 1953 and served for 17 years on the village zoning appeals board during the 1970s and ’80s. He was also chairman for 12 years. Most recently, a bench on the Village Green was dedicated to him for his 103rd birthday.

Rothenberg practiced law for 75 years. He finally let his license expire in 2013, when he was 99.

He loved being a lawyer. His face lit up when asked why he stuck with it for so long. “I was good at it,” he said proudly.

He was a general practice lawyer, adept at many different kinds of cases. “He was very versatile,” Franklin said.

During World War II, he was drafted into the Army in 1942, where he served as a JAG officer before he was moved to the Army Air Force Signal Corps.

He was stationed in La Jolla, Calif., but was allowed to live off base, and spent time at the Garden of Allah Hotel in Hollywood. He recalled that actor John Carradine was staying at the hotel at the time.

He liked to hang out at the pharmacy across the street. “Schwab’s,” he remembered. It was a famous spot celebrities used to frequent. He ran into Lana Turner and John Garfield while shopping there.

After the war he returned to New York and met his future wife, Doris. They moved to Rockville Centre in 1953, where they raised their two sons, Franklin and Fred. He still lives in that home today.

Doris was a public school teacher and taught at Hewitt Elementary. She died in 1996.

Rothenberg started getting involved in local politics in the ’60s and became president of the Republican Club in 1961.

In 1960, he was accredited to practice law before the Supreme Court, although he never had the opportunity to do so.

In 1967, then Mayor Harry Lister appointed him to the village’s zoning appeals board. He was promoted to board chairman in 1972 until he retired in 1984.

“He was always very well dressed,” remembered Ellen Grossman, a family friend who grew up with Rothenberg’s two sons. “And he always looked 10 years younger than he is.”

He was also a lifelong avid golfer and had a hole in one at the 11th annual Mayor’s Golf Classic in 1996—at age 83. He believes he was the only one who was able to do that.

“On the golf course, he was outshooting his eyesight,” said Franklin, noting his father’s tendency to stick with his favorite activities late in life, even as his body aged.

Rothenberg drove a car until he was 98, when his knees were no longer strong enough for him to use the pedals.

“Slowing down now, huh, William?” said Franklin.

These days he spends his time watching classic movies on the Turner Classic Movies channel.

“TCM is his friend,” Fred said.

Not only does he have a 40-year-old grandson—Danny Catch—but also two great grandchildren, Lila, 11, and Nadine, 7.

Lila has performed in a number of stage plays, and Rothenberg likes to tell his son, “Well, I saw the originals with the original actress.”

“He always likes to connect us to the originals,” Fred said.

“He was just always a reliable guy,” said Franklin of his father. “He’s been the rock of the family for a very long time.”