Happy 100th birthday, Ralph Lee!
Ralph Lee, who was born on August 6, 1926, in Peekskill, turns 100 next week.
Mr. Lee, one of eight children, joined the Navy at 17, where he was a gunner during World War II. After the war, he went to New York; most of his career was at D&C Textile Corp. in Manhattan’s garment district. He, his wife, Eve, and their children, Roberta, Ron, and Howard, lived in Dumont; Ralph and Lee have been married for 73 years.
After he retired, Mr. Lee volunteered at Englewood Hospital and for Jewish Meals on Wheels, tended to his tomato garden, and stayed fit by walking along River Drive to Fairleigh Dickinson. He’s kept busy over the years with social activities, concerts, Broadway shows, and trips to Atlantic City organized by the now-defunct Bergenfield-Dumont Jewish Community Center. He and Eve, 97, continue to showcase their dance moves to live music at Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ Cafe Europa in Teaneck. Two years ago, he and Ms. Lee moved to the Pointe in Teaneck, where he helps arrange Shabbat evening services.
When he was 99, Mr. Lee was honored at Citi Field as the Mets “Veteran of the Game.” His motto — which he still lives by at 100, is “work hard, play hard.”