{"id":65363,"date":"2024-03-07T17:03:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T22:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/?p=65363"},"modified":"2024-03-07T16:39:26","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T21:39:26","slug":"wwii-veteran-turns-103-crediting-his-daughters-for-longevity-makes-me-stronger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/wwii-veteran-turns-103-crediting-his-daughters-for-longevity-makes-me-stronger\/","title":{"rendered":"WWII Veteran Turns 103, Crediting His Daughters For Longevity: &#8216;Makes me stronger&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lt. Ralph Perkner kicked off his 103rd birthday at a Pennsylvania restaurant filled with family and neighbors. The WWII veteran who \u00a0served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War, was celebrated at Mission Barbecue in Springfield on Sunday surrounded by his loved ones. According to the Delco Times, a local Pennsylvania newspaper, the celebration was open to all community members. Despite being 103, Perkner has only been retired for 13 years - working as a doctor of optometry until the age of 90. Perkner is known around his town for waking up at 5 a.m. to swim laps at the local YMCA. When asked what his secret to his longevity was, the veteran credited the women in his life. \"My daughters. It\u2019s the ladies that makes me stronger,\" Perkner said. During his 100th birthday celebration in 2021, Perkner's son-in-law Tom Murray, told CBS that Perkner is a \"remarkable, remarkable man.\" He added, \"I hope if I get as old as he is, I'm half\u00a0as good as he is.\" Perkner's wife, Joan, passed away in 2003. The couple shared five children together: Ellen, Patty, Joan, John and Robert.<\/p><div class=\"ad ad-container visible-xs-block\" style=\"height: 330px !important;\">\n    <div class=\"ad-label alt-text alt-pos-above\"><\/div>\n\t<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-mob_prem1_mid-0\" class=\"DFPAdSlot\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad-container hidden-xs offset\" style=\"height: 680px !important;width: 300px !important;\">\n    <div class=\"ad-label\"><\/div>\n\t<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-dt_btf_inarticle1-1\" class=\"DFPAdSlot\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A0pTdxRjNlA?si=BqhemLC6qT38AhQv&amp;controls=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The 103-year-old veteran was born in 1921, the year that President Warren Harding was in office. That same year was also the year that insulin was discovered. The cheeseburger\u00a0was invented when Perkner was 3 years old. The first electronic television was demonstrated in 1927, when Perkner was 6.<\/p>\n<div id=\"bnm-poll-modal\" class=\"modal\"><div class=\"modal-content\"><span class=\"modal-close\">&times;<\/span><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The veteran retired at the age of 90.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":65369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","fbia_status":""},"categories":[626],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.9 (Yoast SEO v17.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WWII Veteran Turns 103, Crediting His Daughters For Longevity: &#039;Makes me stronger&#039; - FamilyToday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ralph Perkner credits his three daughters for his longevity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/wwii-veteran-turns-103-crediting-his-daughters-for-longevity-makes-me-stronger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WWII Veteran Turns 103, Crediting His Daughters For Longevity: &#039;Makes me stronger&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ralph Perkner credits his three daughters for his longevity.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/wwii-veteran-turns-103-crediting-his-daughters-for-longevity-makes-me-stronger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FamilyToday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-07T22:03:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-07T21:39:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2024\/03\/Ralph-Perkner_credit-CBS-Philadelphia-YouTube.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leigh Pizzutilla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"BN Media, LLC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/famtoday\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2020\/03\/bnmedia-logo-lg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2020\/03\/bnmedia-logo-lg.png\",\"width\":1315,\"height\":311,\"caption\":\"BN Media, LLC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/\",\"name\":\"FamilyToday\",\"description\":\"Here today, better tomorrow.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/wwii-veteran-turns-103-crediting-his-daughters-for-longevity-makes-me-stronger\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2024\/03\/Ralph-Perkner_credit-CBS-Philadelphia-YouTube.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2024\/03\/Ralph-Perkner_credit-CBS-Philadelphia-YouTube.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"CBS Philadelphia \/ YouTube\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/wwii-veteran-turns-103-crediting-his-daughters-for-longevity-makes-me-stronger\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/wwii-veteran-turns-103-crediting-his-daughters-for-longevity-makes-me-stronger\/\",\"name\":\"WWII Veteran Turns 103, Crediting His Daughters For Longevity: 'Makes me stronger' - 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