Sheehan celebrates 100th birthday

    William and Mary Sheehan celebrated his 100th birthday at Vero Beach, Florida, on June 27. In attendance were four generations of his family, including his son, Tom and Susan Sheehan, of Mt. Chase and his daughters, Marcia Freeman and husband, Mike of Sarasota, FL., Paula Gotsch and husband John, of Normandy Beach, NJ, and Audrey Marra, of Wayne. Grandchildren and great grand children completed the gathering of over 50 of his kin.
    An avid golfer, gardener and fisherman all of his life, Sheehan says that he cannot recommend old age, but when asked how to live to 100 he says, “You just keep breathing!” Family members however note that he and Mary's longtime rite of Manhattan cocktails before supper seem to have contributed mightily to their ripe old age. Mary is going on 95 years old herself.
    Born on June 24, 1908, in the Borough of the Bronx in New York City, Bill Sheehan began work as a golf caddy to the rich and famous at the country clubs around Westchester County, north of New York. A World War II US Navy veteran, Sheehan later worked at the Bronx County Courthouse where he ascended to Deputy Clerk of the Consolidated Court of the City of New York at his retirement.
    As the city courts closed for the summer months, in those days, Sheehan found summer work at Yankee Stadium in the ticket office and was Ticket Manager for the New York Yankees professional football team of the l950s. He was a lifelong member of the Ballpark Ticketsellers Union, working, variously, at Ebbets Field, Yankee Stadium. the Polo Grounds and, later, Shea Stadium.
    Bill and Mary Sheehan lived for many years in the Highbridge section of the Bronx and later moved to Mahopac, NY, north of the city, where they enjoyed many years golfing at the country club there. They have lived in Vero Beach for 15 years in a retirement community and spent many summers in North Carolina.
    Still active and involved, Sheehan's only concession to advancing age seems to be the cane he has taken up since he stopped golfing, a couple of years ago.
    Thumbing his nose to demonstrate his body's response to his brain's requests to perform, Sheehan laughs at his inability to do all of the things that he would like to at the age of 100.
    With citatations for having achieved 100 years of living from the Florida Legislature and Governor, and from the White House, and his family with him on his birthday, Bill Sheehan has a lot to look back on as he starts his second century.