Published: May 16, 2008 11:27 pm            

Upper Yoder man attributes longevity to clean living

Frank Baserman, 91, of Upper Yoder Township, attributes his length of years to not smoking or drinking alcohol.

That – and perhaps knowing when to get out of a dangerous job.

After serving in the Navy during World War II, Baserman went to work in the open hearth at one of Bethlehem’s steel mills.

It didn’t take long for the young man to realize the job wasn’t to his liking, and when another opportunity came along, he took it.

“I was making the best money in the steel mill you could make, and I took a big cut in pay,” he said.

“But I figured I would live longer. It (the open hearth) was dangerous work.”

Baserman became an apprentice at Schenkemeyer Building in Johnstown.

It proved to be a smart decision. And, in 1972, he went into business for himself – installing tile and marble in homes and businesses in the region. At times, the company employed as many as six men.

“I was still working when I was 73 years old,” Baserman said.

These days, the business is run by Baserman’s youngest son, Dennis.

“I never loafed in my life,” the elder man said. “Only ever drew one unemployment check my whole life.

“I say if you want to work, there’s work.”

Baserman married the former Martha Baker in 1940. The two met in homeroom at Johnstown High School.

“She was the only girl I ever went with,” he said.

The two enjoyed a good relationship that ended with her death in 2003. They were married for 63 years.

When their first son, David, was 10 months old, the new father was called to serve his country.

He shipped out the day before Christmas and didn’t get back home again for more than three years.

“You don’t think about it,” Baserman said when asked if it was difficult being away from his family for so long. “You don’t have much choice. They tell you this and that and away you go.”

When he finally got home, relatives crowded into the little family’s home to give him a proper welcome.

Everyone was thrilled to see the returning war veteran, but his young son was confused.

“After everybody left, he wondered why I didn’t leave,” Baserman said. “But I didn’t force it on him. We worked it out pretty good.”

Dennis Baserman, of Westmont, says his father’s easy-going nature probably is his best virtue.

“He’s just laid-back. I’ve probably only ever seen him angry maybe once,” the younger Baserman said.

He said his father had major surgery a few years back and was forced to stay on a liquid diet for five weeks.

Although he loves to eat, the patient kept a positive attitude throughout the ordeal.

The younger Baserman recalled his father’s reaction one day when he was brought yet another liquid dinner.

“They can’t make me mad,” the forbearing man said. “I like Jello.”

Frank Baserman has belonged to a bowling league for many years. He still bowls every Thursday night at Richland Lanes.

He drives himself.

He also cooks his own meals and lives on his own – in the house he built for his new bride.

“It wasn’t quite done when we got married,” he reminisced. “I paid $4,700 for the lumber in my house. Had the money saved up.”

Saving was something Baserman was good at.

He said he collected dimes in glass banks that were given out by service stations in the area.

“That’s what I paid my baby off with,” he stated.

“I could be considered a tightwad, I guess. I never spent anything foolish.”

He said there were two reasons he was able to save money as a young man. One was the fact that he had just one girlfriend. The other was that he did not drink alcohol.

“Some of the fellows and I would go square-dancing on Saturday night,” he recalled. “They’d get all buzzed up and didn’t know where they were.

“The next morning, I could tell what I did.”

The same could not always be said for his friends.

At 6-foot-3, Baserman was on his high school basketball team.

Although he was offered seven scholarships to play basketball in college, he didn’t accept any of the offers.

He felt he was needed to help care for his brothers and sisters.

If Baserman has any regrets for the path he took in life, he doesn’t say so.

“You never know why you did stuff you did. You just did it,” he said philosophically.

Whatever he did has impressed his son.

“He was an outstanding father,” Dennis Baserman said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

        

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