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Chagrin Falls resident turns 100, with a smile
(by Barbara Christian - November 17, 2011)
Chagrin Falls resident turns 100, with a smile
By BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Nov. 19, 1911, Guglielmo Marconi sends the first wireless transmission between Italy and the New York Times. On that same day, a baby boy who would be named Davis Caldwell is born in a home on R Street in Washington, D.C.
On Saturday, Mr. Caldwell, a longtime resident of Chagrin Falls, will celebrate 100 years of living with a party at Gamekeepers Taverne, and, appropriately enough, the guest list numbers 100 friends and family members.
Last week Mr. Caldwell looked back on his well-lived life and proclaimed himself "a very lucky man." He said the luckiest thing of all has been his 61-year marriage to Connie, whom he met, not on the East Coast where he was raised or in Illinois where she lived, but in Ohio, at her aunt's home.
The Buckeye State in general and Chagrin Falls in particular would become important to them both.
Mr. Caldwell's eyes sparkled when he recalled his career as a salesman, or as he calls it, "a traveling man," for Allied Chemical-Honeywell and the day he was transferred from New Jersey to Cleveland. That was in 1967.
"It was lucky someone tipped me off about Chagrin Falls," he said of finding the town that has meant so much to him, and the home on Water Street he and Mrs. Caldwell would love and care for the next 33 years.
After his retirement in 1976, Mr. Caldwell became active in the Chagrin Falls Meals on Wheels program and the Chagrin Falls Historical Society, of which he was president. He also volunteered at the Cleveland Sight Center and is a member of St. Martin's Church in Bentleyville.
Love of the outdoors and nature made Mr. Caldwell a good fit for other service to his community. Until a few years ago, he was a member of Chagrin Falls village shade tree commission, a mayoral appointment.
Mr. Caldwell and other commission members' work included surveying the village public trees, identifying where new ones should be planted and which trees were dying and should be replaced. Under his stewardship, Chagrin Falls was consistently recognized and named an Arbor Day Tree City.
Mr. Caldwell's own yard gave him as much pleasure. At 89, he was still doing his own yard work until, as he put it "those hedges finally did it. ... I got tired of clipping them and it was time to move along."
Mrs. Caldwell explained how insistent her husband was about trimming the hedge row himself and "would not have anyone else touch them." Eventually, the hedges convinced the couple to move across town to their present home on Pheasant Run Drive where the landscaping is taken care of by a homeowners association.
Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell had three daughters Katie, Allison and Anne. Anne died two years ago of cancer. The Caldwells' two other daughters, eight grandchildren and 25 relatives will be among those celebrating Mr. Caldwell's 100th birthday Saturday.
He was raised in Washington, D.C., in the R Street home, which is now the Cyprus Embassy, Mr. Caldwell pointed out. His father was a railroader and his mother was a teacher.
Bringing meals to seniors and trees for everyone to enjoy were passions but none more than his love of reading. Mr. Caldwell has been a longtime member of the Friends of the Chagrin Falls Library and remains a loyal reader of history books. He is currently making his way through Paul Schneider's "Enduring Shore: A History of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket."
The book is of particular interest because he, Mrs. Caldwell and their daughters spent 20 summers vacationing on Martha's Vineyard and that place and those times are on his family's "best list," he said.
Other "bests" are his four years at and his 1934 graduation from Brown University. A love of his alma mater drew him back to the Providence, R.I., campus in 2009 for his 75th class reunion.
Mr. Caldwell served in the U.S. Navy during World War II on a minesweeper. As he put it, "We found them and we blew them up," and he experienced no mishaps or injuries during the tense work.
He recently was asked how it felt to reach the century mark. "I have no problems, I am a lucky guy," he said of his good health and active mind.
Although he uses a walker to get around and "some leverage," as he put it, to get up, he gets out every day and walks around his neighborhood.
And what does he owe to living so long? With a twinkle, Mr. Caldwell said a dish of ice cream every day helps.
"I would like to have three a day," he said. He said luck has had a lot to do with having a long life, but he added, "It doesn't hurt to smile and don't be too ambitious ... just be happy and make a lot of friends."
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