Celebrating a century

Diet, friends and family are secrets to long life.

By: Jessica Beym
   With a plate full of meatballs in front of her, Martha Heinz sat around a table of friends to have lunch and celebrate her 101st birthday at the Elms of Cranbury on Wednesday.
   Ms. Heinz’s lunch wasn’t much different than all of the other meals she has eaten throughout her lifetime.
   "My father was a butcher. He used to own a deli when we lived in the Bronx. I’ve eaten meat every day of my life. I don’t care much for fish," she said.
   Having meat in her daily diet is just one of the reasons Ms. Heinz says she has lived such a long, full life. Good friends, good family and a good faith is what she said has been most important to her.
   Ms. Heinz was born in the Bronx, N.Y, in 1904 and was stricken with polio when she was 5, but kept it a secret to avoid being hospitalized. She grew up in Manhattan, N.Y., and began working as an accountant for $12 a week when she was 14 years old.
   "New York was very busy back then. It’s busy now but it was very different back then. People could just walk in the streets," she said.
   In 1920, her family moved to a farm in Milltown. The move was a drastic change for Ms. Heinz, who was a city girl at heart.
   "I hated New Jersey when we moved here. I was so active in New York, but then I made some friends and had a boyfriend and it made a difference," Ms. Heinz said.
   The worst part of the move, Ms. Heinz said, was the thought that she wouldn’t be able to bring her red and orange tabby cat, Cherry, with her.
   But after discussion with her father, she carried Cherry with her in a bag on the train to New Jersey.
   Once in Milltown, Ms. Heinz found a job as an accountant, a profession that stayed with her throughout her life. She married her husband, Arthur, in 1925. They met as Ms. Heinz and a friend saw him standing on a street corner on their way to work.
   Ms. Heinz and her husband were involved with the New Apostolic Church, where Ms. Heinz sang in the choir and played the violin and organ. Her husband was involved in local politics and served as the mayor of Milltown. Together they opened up a small food store called Heinz’s Food Market on George Street in New Brunswick, which they ran for 30 years.
   Throughout their marriage the couple enjoyed ice skating on Farrington Lake, and taking road trips to cities like Detroit and Chicago.
   Mr. Heinz died in 1992, leaving Ms. Heinz with her son, a granddaughter, a grandson and a great-granddaughter.
   After an accident left Ms. Heinz with a broken hip in 1995, her son sought out extra care for her and hired a live-in nurse, who has been with her for nearly a decade. Ms. Heinz has been at the Elms for nearly a year.
   On the night of her birthday, Ms. Heinz revisited the New Apostolic Church in East Brunswick the church that brought her the faith and happiness that has continued to stay with her.
   "There’s been some sadness in my life, but also a lot of happiness," she said. "I have a good family, good friends and a good church."