To be fair, George’s date of birth is June 9, 1927. So his actual age depends on when this article is published. But George is not one to quibble over a few days. The stories of his life are the same, regardless of the length of his personal timeline.

“That was a long time ago,” is the refrain as George begins his narrative at one of his proudest moments: When he left home to “save this country” in WW II. He was just 17, a junior at Pekin High School working after school at Keystone. His older brother, Walter, was already on the crew of an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) in the Pacific. With his father’s permission, George joined the Navy, shipping out from San Francisco in 1944.

After a brief time in the South Pacific on the Admiralty Islands off New Guinea, he was stationed on Samar Island in the Philippines as a member of the NATS (Naval Air Transport Service).

“I was just a kid” he says. But he soon proved his worth on the crew of a C-47 twin-engine transport plane carrying supplies to American bases throughout the Philippines. He says a newspaper article at the time reported that the entire NATS group flew more than 80,000 miles carrying cargo in support of American troops. He was in the Philippines when the war ended.

George leads with these tales of his military service, apparently thinking they are among the more exciting details of his life. But to get a sense of who he really is, you must start in the small house on Front Street in Pekin where he was born in 1927. The house is long gone, but George remembers that it had no electricity, no running water (there was a hand pump in the kitchen), and a “bathroom” a short jaunt out the back door. Water for bathing was heated on a wood stove and poured into a metal wash tub. His sisters (there would eventually be three) bathed first, followed by the boys according to their age. He recalls the water not being very warm by the time the youngest brother got his turn.

“People nowadays, they just don’t realize what happened back in those days,” George says. “You know, to survive you’d do just about anything.”

The son of Polish and Czechoslovakian immigrants, George remembers, “We never wore shoes in the summertime, and when it was time to go back to school, our feet were so spread out we had to get the shoes to fit our feet.”

Like many boys in that era, George delivered newspapers. He carried them in a bag slung over his shoulder until he saved enough money to buy a new bicycle. At age 12, he also purchased his first car for $50. Never mind that you had to be 16 to drive legally, or that the starter didn’t work. He would get some friends to push the car, the driver would pop the clutch, and the engine would start right up. Knowing he could get arrested for driving, and with no money to replace the starter, he sold the car after a couple of weeks and recouped his $50.

When the economy improved, the family moved into a home on Cynthiana Street that George’s mother called “a palace.” It had running water, flush toilets, a bathtub, and electricity.

When he was in high school, George worked at Soldwedel Dairy, before taking an after-school job at Keystone, where his father worked. After the war he returned to that old job, then learned the electrician’s trade and stayed on at Keystone until his retirement at age 55.

“They said, ‘Yeah, you can get in (at Keystone), but you’ve got to know something about it,’” George recalls. “They didn’t have any colleges to go to like they have now. If you wanted to get some education, you got it through the mail-in books. That’s how I learned to be an electrician.”

In the meantime, George married Helen Pannier and they settled on a small farm near Groveland with plenty of room to raise their six kids. They were not farmers, but did raise chickens. horses, cows, and sheep, which the kids showed at 4H fairs. George and Helen divorced after 30 years; a few years later he married Mary McCabe.

“She worked for Pekin Insurance,” recalls George “Somehow, I met her and we hit it off just like that. She was a beautiful lady.” 

With all of his kids grown and out of the house, the Sipkas no longer needed all that space in the country. They moved to the home in Pekin where George lives today. The house in Groveland is now home to JR’s Landscape Services, which is owned by George’s granddaughter, Malena, and her husband, John Rogers.

Mary passed away in 2020. George’s health remains good “for a man his age.” He says he takes a couple of medications and is plagued by arthritis. He had a heart pacemaker implanted at age 91. The doctors told him they don’t typically recommend a pacemaker at that age, but his active lifestyle and overall health made it right for him.

George just renewed his Illinois driver’s license this spring and continues to make regular trips to the grocery store and appointments. His oldest son, George Jr., says his father loves mowing with his riding mower and working in the yard. And he is always asking to go fishing — no doubt a passion George inherited from his father, who made his own fishing nets and trolled the Illinois River for fish to supplement the family’s diet.

“He loves to dance,” says George Jr. “Don’t play a polka, that’s all I can tell you. He can shake a leg.”

Thirteen grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren call George “grandpa Moo.” Earlier this year, Pekin’s Moose Lodge No. 916 named him Valued Veteran of the Year. He has been recognized for his service and longevity at a high school football game and represented veterans in a parade. 

“They put me in a car that day,” he scoffs. “I could have walked.”

While George has seen the world change dramatically since he showed up 99 years ago, there are certain aspects of modern life that he has yet to embrace. One is cell phones, another is computers.

“I tried to get him on a cell phone, so we knew where he was at,” his son says. “I bought the phone and said, ‘It’s free. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.’ He wouldn’t even charge it up.”

“I’m from the old school,” George insists. “I don’t have a computer and I don’t have a cell phone.” Instead, he points to the cordless landline phones on the kitchen counter, in the living room, and in the basement. One is always just a few steps away.

“He’s hardheaded,” George Jr. laughs.

That hardheadedness implies that George Sipka is missing out on the wonders and benefits of modern technology. But who’s to say that not embracing the latest apps and social media platform is contributing to his longevity. Time will tell.