Ask any member of our friendly team at Cambridge Court Assisted Living, and they’ll tell you the best part about their job is the privilege of serving our residents. All of our residents are extraordinary—for their wit, warmth and amazing life stories.
One of our residents, Paul Beckman, recently made the local news on the occasion of his 105th birthday in August. But if you met Paul in person, you’d be surprised to learn he’s a centenarian, because he’s still sharp of mind and young at heart. As he recently told the Kearney Hub, “I’m not old. I knew a man who said he’s 111. Now that’s old.”
Paul’s story starts in 1912, when he was born an hour away from Kearney in Grand Island. The son of an office manager for a plumbing company, Paul graduated from Grand Island High School in 1929, the year the Great Depression rocked the United States. After spending a year in junior college, he found work at a government agency during the peak Depression years.
That job came to an end when he was hit with a nasty case of scarlet fever in the mid-1930s—the last serious illness he experienced. In the 70+ years since, he worked as a miner in the Black Hills, served in the U.S. Army from 1945-1949, managed a motel in Grand Island, and then spent 20 years working for the Nebraska State Employment Office before retirement.
Since retirement, Paul has stayed busy with an assortment of hobbies and interests, from bowling and ice skating to playing the keyboard in several bands, playing his last gig when he was 92 years old (though if you set him in front of a piano today, you might be able to talk him into a song or two).
He has been a resident of Cambridge Court for 10 years now, and says he enjoys the community, friendship with fellow residents, our faith-based approach to care, and our friendly team of caregivers. And of course, our team was so proud to celebrate Paul’s 105th birthday with him. Residents like Paul inspire us all to live life to the fullest every day.
