Mount Alverno resident Howard Werany celebrates his 102nd birthday with family

WARWICK — Back in the days when Howard Werany was born, Teddy Roosevelt was our president, the airplane had just been invented and the automobile was still a novelty. Werany, a native of Brooklyn and now a resident of Mount Alverno Center, celebrated his 102nd birthday on Sunday, Dec. 10. Friends and relatives filled the Greenbrier Room to enjoy a luncheon with a traditional birthday cake. Werany and his wife Lorena, who passed away in 1989, have raised four children. And he now boasts 10 grandchildren and 32 great grandchildren. Many were able to join him for the celebration. In spite of his advanced age, Werany has only been living at Mount Alverno, an adult residence and assisted living program on the Warwick Campus of the Bon Secours Health Care System, for about four months. A year or so ago, anyone watching him race around the Village of Warwick on his electric scooter would never believe it. “I started riding these when I was 91 because they made me turn in my driver’s license,” he used to say. The scooter was helpful when Werany, who, at that time, lived alone and by coincidence, just across the street from Mount Alverno. He rode it whenever he wanted to go to the library, the bank, shopping or just to visit a friend. But today he can still get around on his own two feet. “My doctor once told me to keep walking and don’t forget to breathe,” he laughed. “But I do miss my scooter.” Werany spent his early life delivering milk in vehicles that ranged from a horse-drawn wagon, to an electric van and finally to a modern day truck. After retiring from that job, he worked another 10 years in a retail department store. He has been a Warwick resident since 1956. Although it may still seem rare, the fastest-growing segment of the population is actually people who have reached the age of 100 and beyond. Providing long term health care is one of the most important services offered by members of the Bon Secours Charity Health System. “We provide a lifetime of care for the people in our community,” said Leah Cerkvenik, executive vice president/administrator of the Bon Secours Warwick Health Care Campus. “With our excellent hospital and medical staff and our supported living and skilled nursing facilities, we can offer our community a full range of health care services at one location right here in our hometown.” Additional information about Mount Alverno Center, Schervier Pavilion, Day-At-A-Time and St. Anthony Community Hospital is available on the Web at www.StAnthonyCommunityHosp.org. Bon Secours Charity Health System includes three New York hospitals: Bon Secours Community Hospital, Port Jervis, Good Samaritan Hospital, Suffern, and St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick. For more information visit www.bschs.org.