Longtime Rhinelander Resident to Join Elite Ranks of Centenarians
Longtime Rhinelander resident Paul Haftarski will join an elite group of individual come this weekend. Mr Haftarski starts a new century as he will turn 100 years old on Saturday the 27th. Roughly one-fortieth of a percent of the US population reaches this lofty mark.
Haftarski was born in Poland in 1924. While hitting the century mark is a significant accomplishment in itself, he defied the odds in just making it to the age of 21. When he was 17, his father sent him to technical school where he spent just 3 days as Poland saw the start of WWII. Since he was considered unemployed as a student, he was shipped off to Germany with a myriad of others fill much needed roles. To no one’s surprise, these war-time laborers were subjected to the most dangerous task that were dolled out to workers in that environment. Haftarski found himself working in a shipyard along with a crew of underwater divers, assigned to repair shores and complete subaquatic maintenance. This required the extremely dangerous task of underwater welding.
When Mr Haftarski was asked what the secret was to his longevity, he humbly answered “Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t think I would be here.” He then started to share that on three separate occasions, he was declared or believed to be dead, but his daughter-in-law shut this down. After more deliberation, Haftarski said, “purpose.”