A former New Jersey volunteer fire chief and great-grandfather of seven turned 110 last month — joining the rare few supercentenarian men across the globe.
Vincent Dransfield, of Little Falls, celebrated his milestone birthday on March 28 at his former engine house, Singac Volunteer Fire Company #3 — as he became the eighth oldest reported man alive.
With women making up 90% of supercentenarians worldwide, according to the New England Centenarian Study, Dransfield is one of few men in the group of 110+ and has lived a healthy life all those years with just some knee pain to complain about, according to Today.
He lives alone with no home aid or extra help, cooks simple food for himself, walks up and down his three-level house and drives “pretty good” daily with no issues.
But Dransfield, who was born in 1914, isn’t a health-obsessed fanatic.
He smoked cigarettes for 20 years and worked his whole life from age 15 to his late 70s. He eats whatever he likes — including hamburgers, milk chocolate and Italian food, has an occasional beer, drinks coffee every day and gets a crack out of people who run.
“He laughs at people who jog. He’s like, ‘Where are they running to?’,” his granddaughter Erica Lista told Today.
Dransfield — a dad of one, grandfather of three and great-grandfather of seven — credits luck, milk, and doing what he loves for his long and healthy life.
One of the major factors that have kept him happy, sharp and healthy was spending time doing what he loved — aka his long career as a volunteer firefighter.