Erie man, soon to be 105, lives at home and helps care for 80-year-old daughter
Joan Ozimek's alarm clock goes off promptly at 6 each morning and the 80-year-old woman rises out of bed.
Ozimek, who is legally blind, slowly makes her way to an adjacent bedroom, where she then wakes her soon-to-be 105-year-old father, Florian "Larry" Ozimek.
"She wakes me up and I make breakfast," Larry Ozimek said, seated in his favorite cushioned chair at his west Erie home. "Sometimes it's cereal."
"He makes toast with butter and jelly," said his son, Richard Ozimek.
"Sometimes it's Pop-Tarts," Larry Ozimek added.
Larry Ozimek, one of Erie's oldest men, not only lives at home, he also helps care for his daughter. Joan Ozimek has suffered lifelong vision and developmental problems after a childhood bout of encephalitis, inflammation of the brain.
The two of them follow a comfortable routine, helped in part by Larry Ozimek's two other surviving children. Patty Cummings, who lives behind her father's house, visits a couple times each day, while Richard Ozimek goes over daily.
"I come over each morning and do the dishes, make sure they're doing OK," said Cummings, 68.
Larry and Joan Ozimek have lived on their own since his wife, Jane Ozimek, died in 2015 at the age of 90. The couple were married for 73 years.
"She still had a lot of years left," said Larry Ozimek, who will turn 105 Sunday.
A Navy veteran who served stateside as a diesel mechanic during World War II, Larry Ozimek worked for more than 40 years as a tool-and-die maker at Lord Corp.
In the evenings, he fixed radios, televisions and phonographs in a basement workshop — even after he lost two fingers on his right hand in a lawnmower accident in the mid-1970s.
"Dad used the G.I. Bill in the early 1950s to go to school and learn about TV and radio repair," Richard Ozimek said.
Now Ozimek is more likely to be watching TV instead of fixing one. He particularly likes sports and military shows.
He and Joan Ozimek also have a few other daily routines. One occurs around mid-morning, when they head into the kitchen and he pours a couple small glasses of orange juice.
But before they drink the juice, Larry Ozimek heats the filled glasses in the microwave oven for 30 seconds. Then they down them like shots of alcohol.
"Neither of them like cold beverages," Richard Ozimek said.
Lunch is often a sandwich. Larry Ozimek frequently stops at Urbaniak Brothers Quality Meats to buy lunch meat, including bologna and braunschweiger.
On Fridays during Lent, the two will eat grilled cheese sandwiches. Dinners are usually supplied by Meals on Wheels.
"Dad eats and sleeps well," Richard Ozimek said with a laugh.
The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed many of their social activities. They used to attend Saturday Mass at St. Judge Catholic Church.
Larry and Joan Ozimek still attend some family functions. Larry Ozimek is expected to have his first great-great-grandchild later this year.
Longevity runs in the family. Larry Ozimek's father lived to be 103.
"He ended up starving himself to death," Larry Ozimek said. "He said he was going to visit Mama."
Not only does Larry Ozimek continue to enjoy his life, he has no desire to leave his tidy home. While there are plans to care for Joan Ozimek if her father is no longer capable, no one hopes to put those into effect.
Asked why he wants to continue living in the house he and his wife bought in 1974, Larry Ozimek smiled and offered a brief answer.
"It just feels natural," he said.
Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Florian 'Larry' Ozimek, 104, lives at home, helps care for daughter
