Plantation Man Celebrates 100th Birthday with Memoir
Deerfield Beach, FL – January 28, 2018 – Plantation resident, Leo Fishman, will celebrate his 100 birthday on February 11th at Fifteenth Street Fisheries in Fort Lauderdale. Living to 100 is pretty common these days but very few centenarians can claim Leo’s accomplishments. Leo became a computer whiz at an age when most seniors are still struggling with smartphones. After retiring from dentistry at age 62 he taught himself computer programming at 80 so he could determine the value of his portfolio with the click of a button. He created complex macros for his son’s medical consulting business, Oncology Analytics, at 95 and is still working with the company. A few weeks ago, he was instrumental in solving an analytics question they were working on, according to his son, Marc Fishman, MD, who founded the company.
His grandson Jared Fishman remembers back in kindergarten they both discovered Napster. “There we were, illegally downloading music– a very small child and very old man.”
A book about his life entitled Macro Man, from Bites to Bytes, will be distributed at his birthday party. Written with local author Erica Manfred (www.ericamanfred.com) and published by local publisher Trimark Press in Deerfield Beach (www.trimarkpress.com) it describes how Leo grew up in the heyday of Coney Island in the 1920s, served in the Army during World War II, fought anti-Semitism in the 1940s and went on to complete dental school and raise 3 sons in Long Island in the 50s and 60s who became doctors and dentists themselves.
Leo served as a dentist in the Pacific theater during World War 2 and is probably the last surviving dentist from that war.
After Leo’s wife died in the 90s he continued to live in their condo at Emerald Pointe in Delray until a few months ago when he moved to an independent living facility in Plantation. He didn’t move because he needed assistance—Leo lived alone and took care of himself without any help, including driving, shopping, cooking and cleaning– and only moved to be closer to his son and because, as the oldest person in his condo community, his friends were gone and he found it difficult to make new ones with the much younger residents. However, a lifelong athlete, he swam there every day, and was known and admired for his vigorous workouts in the pool.
Leo and his family attribute the secret of his longevity to never worrying about anything. He says he’s a living embodiment of the twelve step mantra “accept the things you cannot change.” A role model to everyone who knows him, grandson Jared Fishman calls him an “unaware Buddhist,” because of his unflappability. His granddaughter Avital Berman says “One of the things I’ll remember most about Grampy is that he is always in a good mood. I’ve NEVER heard him raise his voice. His saying ‘if you cannot change it, why worry about it’ is something I strive to achieve. He takes life with a grain of salt and appreciates what’s important, and doesn’t pay any mind to anything else.”