Dec 1, 2003 By Frances Borsodi Zajac 8 min read

With a bagpipe playing, the residents of Marquis House in South Union Township turned out en masse recently to congratulate Arthur Drake on his 100th birthday. The audience offered an enthusiastic applause to the gentleman who was born in Uniontown when Teddy Roosevelt was president.

Reynold Bell, one of Drake’s close friends, escorted him to a chair beneath a United States and an Irish flag. David Olson, dressed in a green turtleneck, kilt and beret, continued to play Irish tunes on the bagpipe.

“On behalf of the Marquis House, we want to welcome you to celebrate the 100th birthday of Arthur Drake, who was born Nov. 22, 1903,’ announced Robin Newhouse, administrator of Marquis House. Newhouse acted as emcee to announce the participants in the program, including members of the American Legion Post 51 in Uniontown, where Drake, a World War II veteran, has been a member for 62 years.

The American Legion honor guard offered a presentation of colors.

After the singing of the national anthem, Jim Smith conducted a POW/MIA table ceremony and presented an American flag to Drake.

Ron Barry of the Ancient Order of the Hivernians, an Irish Catholic fraternal organization, presented Drake with a certificate of recognition and a gift in honor of his 100th birthday. The organization also provided Irish decorations and a CD of Irish music for the party.

Sgt. Perry Miller of the U.S. Army Recruiting Center in Uniontown presented Drake with a ball cap. Smith performed a blessing ceremony. Drake blew out candles on a cake. Olson and singer Ricardo Allicastro took turns performing music in Drake’s honor, including a turn of “Happy Birthday’ on the bagpipes.

Besides Reynold Bell, the party guests included Drake’s close friends Mary Ann Bell (Reynold’s wife), Don Bell (Reynold’s brother) and Robert Schultz, all of Uniontown.

Drake’s gang also includes friend Larry George, who was not able to make Monday’s party at the Marquis House but was at other parties over the weekend.

The Marquis House party was actually the third to mark Drake’s birthday.

His nieces showed up at a party at Third Presbyterian Church, where Drake has been a member for 70 years. His friends took him out on his birthday for lunch, where he had a cake at Lone Star restaurant and then another later in the day at the Markleysburg Volunteer Fire Department, where he attends the Thanksgiving dinner each year.

“Art goes out to eat almost every day,” noted Mrs. Bell, as the friends told stories about Drake’s good health and stamina. “Sunday, he had a party with family and old friends at Third Presbyterian. There were 150 people there. Art stood and greeted everybody who came in.’

The friends met when Schultz began delivering his newspaper, The Evening Standard, in 1957 and then Reynold Bell delivered The Morning Herald in 1959. Drake still reads the Herald-Standard daily.

The friends noted that Drake lived by himself in a house on Edgemont Street in Uniontown until about 21/2 years ago, when he moved to the Marquis House. He also drove until he moved here.

“He lived by himself in a two-story house, and he would wash his walls,’ said Mrs. Bell.

“His house was immaculate,’ said Don Bell. “His basement was clean.’

Drake is also careful about his appearance and dresses up daily.

The friends noted he likes to visit Brown’s candy store in Mount Pleasant at Christmas and Easter and “gives candy to everyone.’

They spoke of his generosity.

“Art is the most giving person you can find,’ said Mrs. Bell.

“He likes to open with a hug,’ said Schultz. “You hug him, you’re in.’

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Two days after the party, Drake sat in his rooms at the Marquis House and reflected on his life.

“In my 100 years, we’ve come a long way,’ he said. “There used to be horse and buggy. Now it’s automobile. We had radio and then television, and now there are satellites and computers. I’ve seen it all come.’

Drake has lived in Uniontown all his life. His grandfather, Daniel Jobes, was a stagecoach driver on the National Road.

“He drove over the mountain. There was no highway then, just a road,’ said Drake, noting his grandfather is buried nearby at Oak Grove Cemetery. “It’s hard to believe that anybody would ride over the mountain in an old stagecoach like that. They weren’t too modern. They didn’t have tires, just rough old wheels.’

Drake grew up on Prospect Street, one of seven children of Anna and Andrew Drake.

“My mother had it rough with seven kids. She did all the housework and papering, painting, anything that had to be done,’ he said. “She was a good cook. She made the best lemon meringue pie I ever tasted. She had no recipe, just a pinch of this and a pinch of that. She knew how to make it.’

His father was an engineer for H.C. Frick at the Leith Mine.

“He walked to work every day of his life. He never had a car. People said they could set their clock by the time he walked by their house,’ said Drake.

A religious man, Drake’s father observed Sunday by “making us sit around and read the Bible if we needed to,” Drake said. “Today, Sunday is just another day.’

As a child, Drake enjoyed playing with children in the neighbors’ stables, playing in the hayloft and with the animals.

He attended East End School and then Ella Peach School and graduated from Uniontown High School in 1922. The late Judge Edward Dumbaugh of the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania was one of his classmates.

“He was a good friend of mine,’ Drake said of Dumbaugh, who wrote books on the Constitution and Bill of Rights and was known nationally as an expert on Thomas Jefferson.

He would later come to know another famous Fayette County resident, coal baron J.V. Thompson. They became acquainted through their membership in the Sons of the American Revolution.

“He’d come to every meeting and sit and talk to you like a regular guy,’ said Drake. “When his bank went under in 1929, his bank paid back every penny they owed everybody. I thought he was a wonderful guy. He’s like Joe Hardy now.’

In high school, Drake studied the commercial course and spent his time working in business.

He particularly enjoyed the railroad and had an office job with the Pennsylvania Railroad in Uniontown.

The job offered Drake a free pass to ride on the railroad, and he used it almost every weekend to travel. One of his favorite spots to visit was New York City.

“I would go to Radio City Music Hall. It was the first place I’d hit,’ he said. “I’d go to movies. I loved to walk around Madison Square Garden and all around. No one would bother you. I’d love to go to the Empire State Building and look over the harbor and see the passenger ships.’

Drake explained he’d ride the train to New York on Friday night, sleeping on the seats and waking up to find himself in New York.

He did statistical work for the railroad, keeping track of cars.

“If one got lost, I had to trace it,’ Drake said.

When World War II broke out, Drake was drafted into the Army in 1941. He was sent to Fort Bragg, N.C., and another camp in Tennessee but was released from duty when the railroad requested his return because of a shortage of men to work.

“The railroad was crucial,’ Drake explained.

But when the Pennsylvania Railroad folded its Uniontown office and offered Drake a chance to move to Pittsburgh, he declined.

Drake retired in 1958, but he remained active in volunteering, including work with the YMCA, where he helped with the basketball program and the Boy Scouts through Third Presbyterian Church.

Although he has had a full life, Drake never married.

“I guess that’s why I’m 100,’ he said, joking. “I never was that serious about anybody. I like my family. My sister Sarah had 11 children. Five are left, and four of them came to my party, one from Minnesota.’

Drake has lived through several wars, the Great Depression and several recessions.

“This last one was a bad one,’ said Drake. “I love President Bush and I hope he gets to see a little prosperity before he’s out of office. I hope he gets re-elected. He sent me a birthday card this year and last year.’

And he has seen two attacks on America.

“I couldn’t believe it (the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks), and I couldn’t believe it when the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor, either. It takes a while to get it into your head. They hate America because of business, and those two towers represent business. How they knocked those buildings down in such a hurry, I can’t get through my head.’

Tired of talking, Drake is ready to take a walk before his friends come to take him out for lunch. He has a schedule, going out almost every day but staying home a few days a week to rest.

He has enjoyed his 100th birthday but is ready to move on.

“Yes it was nice, but it was too much in three days,’ said Drake. “I hope to get it over with.’