Former WWII B-17 radio/gunner keeps active, adores his great-grandkids
OCEAN VIEW — Albert Kosher celebrated his birthday June 30 by working out on his own at the MFit Gym in Ocean View and following it up with an exercise class.
That’s not unusual. A lot of people spend part of their birthdays working out to keep fit.
Not too many of them are doing it on their 99th birthday, though.
The World War II veteran from Marmora said he cares about his health. He makes a point of doing something about it.
“I first started to exercise at home,” Kosher said.
He has a treadmill there, doing 20 minutes every morning and using weights for exercising (not weightlifting). He was convinced to do some working out outside the home.
“My daughter talked me into exercising at the gym,” he said. “I can see the difference, so I’m going to stick with the gym. I’m just trying to keep my health. That’s why I exercise.”
Queried on the secret to his longevity, Kosher said, “I try living right. I exercise a lot and try to eat the right way. That’s about it.”
“He’s a joy. Everybody in class loves him. It’s surprising how much he can do at 99 years old,” said Cheryl E. Wood, the assistant manager who is partners with owner Melissa Johnson of the MFit Gym on Route 50. “We all hope we can just function at 99, let alone do the classes that he does.”
She pointed out that the exercise class he takes starts at 11 but “he’s usually here at 10:30, does the class, and stays for another half-hour after. He’s doing a good two, two and a half hours when he’s here,” Wood said.
She noted the MFit Gym has a wide variety of clients, from teenagers to seniors.
“There are lots of classes, lots of variety for everybody,” she said.
After Kosher took the senior exercise class, which is done while the class members are seated to keep it low-impact, his classmates and the gym’s instructors gathered around to celebrate him, including some cupcakes and a little festive birthday gear.
A Cape May County native, Kosher was born in Woodbine. After he graduated high school, he worked a variety of part-time jobs.
“I lost my father when I was two and a half years old so I had to help my mother get along,” he explained. “If I had to do it over again, I would.”
Like many men of his generation, Kosher left Cape May County to serve his nation during World War II.
He joined the U.S. Army Air Force. He was a radio gunner in a B-17 bomber and flew 32 missions over Germany.
Called the Flying Fortress, the B-17 was a four-engine heavy bomber used mostly by the Air Force in daylight bombing raids over Germany. The radio gunner had dual responsibilities — operating the radio and, during combat, manning a machine gun to defend the plane.
Asked what it was like during those combat missions, he said it is hard to explain.
“You were a little afraid, yet you weren’t afraid,” Kosher said.
After the service he and his wife, Irene, moved to northern New Jersey where he went to work for Merck & Co. They decided they liked the other part of the state better.
“We weren’t satisfied with north Jersey so we came back to south Jersey,” Kosher said.
After this wife died, his daughter, Joann Carpenter of Marmora, asked him to move in with her.
“I lost my wife to cigarettes,” he said. “My daughter came over after the funeral. She didn’t ask me, she made a statement. She said, ‘Dad, get your stuff, you’re going home with me.’ I give her all the credit that I’m still here.”
Carpenter had a simple explanation for her decision. “Because I love him,” she said. “And I promised my mom if anything happened to her that I would take him in, and I promised him the same thing.”
At 99, Kosher isn’t exactly a burden.
“He’s very kind and considerate,” Carpenter said of her father. “He always tries to stay out of your way, he always wants to help. He does trash detail,” she added. “I have to let him do what he wants to do. He does his own laundry. He’s amazing. Every now and then he’ll vacuum the floor for me. He sleeps on the second floor. He sets the table and he helps me clear the table. Nobody else does,” she said, laughing. “So he’s very considerate. He’s awesome.”
Asked if he had any hobbies other than exercise, Kosher broke out in a big smile. “Messing around with my great-grandkids,” he said, laughing. “And I have a lot of them.”
Carpenter concurred.
“I have eight grandkids,” she said. “That’s what keeps him going, I think.”
Those are just her grandkids.
“I think he’s probably got over 40 great-grandchildren,” she said. While some are as far away as the West Coast, others live nearby. He also has two great-great-grandchildren.
“That’s a lot,” she said.
“He’s been with me for 14 years and when he first moved in, he went on wave runners with us, we went on vacation, fishing. He goes to Florida with us,” Carpenter said. “I think for the elderly, just being around people helps keep them going.”
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff