Centenarians share their secrets to a long-lasting life

Robert J. McAllister and Sylvia George have each lived more than a century full of faith, career success and family love. And both remain active today.

McAllister is a 102-year-old lector at St. John the Evangelist in Columbia. George is a life-long, 100-year-old parishioner of St. Louis in Clarksville.  

“When Bob’s 102nd birthday came around, he asked to be assigned as a lector just after his birthday,” said Kathleen Armstrong, liturgical ministry coordinator at St. John. “He was marvelous. Our parishioners were so happy for him and he got a round of applause.”

When George turned 100, her family organized a party with 70 family members and close friends.

“It was beautiful and a complete surprise,” said George, a gifted artist who still paints today.

Both centenarians believe their strong faith was a guiding force throughout their long lives.

Grateful to God

A native of Geyser, Mont., McAllister was the youngest of six children. His father was from Ireland and his mother from Norway. Every night they prayed the rosary as a family.

“I remember seeing my dad at church holding the beads of the rosary and thinking, ‘Dad is talking to God,’ ” he recalled.

McAllister lived on a ranch and grew up in a town with cowboys, barn dances and a clear sky with a “spectacular view” of the Milky Way.

“Every Sunday in order to get to Mass, we often had a team of horses and a bogie and during the winter we had a sled,” he said.

He was an altar server as a boy and eventually joined St. Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Wash. After discerning the priesthood was not for him, he left the seminary, and eventually joined the Army during World War II.

Among the highlights of his career as a psychiatrist are earning a doctorate in psychology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., being president of the National Guild of Catholic Psychiatrists, writing eight books, becoming a national speaker on psychiatry and religion and assisting with summer counselor training for clergy.

“I go through the day talking to the Lord in my thoughts,” he said when asked his secret for a long life. “I put in my hearing aids and always say ‘Thank you, Lord, for my ears.’”

“I thank God for the ability to still write, for my sleep, for the things that happened during the day, and pray for the people I saw in the day, even if I do not know their names,” he added.  

McAllister, whose first marriage was annulled, enjoyed a long marriage to Jane McAllister. They found a warm community in St. John the Evangelist and decided to live their retirement near the parish. They went to daily Mass and became close friends with parishioners and priests, especially Father Richard H. Tillman, pastor emeritus of St. John the Evangelist, and Father Gerry Bowen, its current pastor.  

“He is one of the most positive gentle souls I’ve ever met, while also being grounded in reality,” Father Bowen said.

When Jane McAllister was diagnosed with cancer, they battled cancer together.

“The day she died, I was praying the rosary with one hand and with the other hand I was rubbing her feet,” said McAllister, father of six, grandfather of 21 and great-grandfather of six. “I felt a pat in my head. I’ve always believed someone came and took her.”

Even 9 years after Jane’s death, Robert McAllister said he thanks God every day for the love and faith they shared.  

In addition to being a lector at Mass, he writes for the Vantage Views, a bi-monthly issue for Vantage Point, the retirement community in which he lives.

“The ability to share the good news is not something that is exclusive of any age,” said St. John’s director of communications, D. Scott Miller. “Bob is a lifelong witness that we can share the Scriptures throughout the entirety of our lives.”

‘Promise to God’

A native of Syracuse N.Y., George is the first-born of Italian immigrants. Her parents were devoted Catholics and taught her the Catholic faith from a young age.

Christine Cunningham, Sylvia’s youngest child, said her mother almost lost her life while she was in college. George was swimming in a lake in New York when she got a cramp. She looked around for help but was alone and started drowning.

“God, I will never meet my husband and know my children,” she prayed, “If you get me out, I will have all the children you want.”

Then she felt a strong arm pulling her out of the water. She was not able to see her rescuer well but she was able to see dark curly hair.

She kept her promise with eight children, 22 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.

To keep her family in touch with each other and to preserve her Italian heritage, she instituted “Pasta Party,” a holiday in which the entire family gathers and she teaches them to make pasta from scratch.

She said her secret for having a long life was having eight children “who would get her up on her feet and running all the time.”

“You know I love babies; I had eight of them,” she said. “I enjoyed having a large family, we created wonderful memories.”

She and her husband, Henry H. George, married in 1946, moved to Maryland in 1959 and raised the family in Howard County, where all attended St. Louis Catholic School. Henry George died in 2000. 

George has volunteered at her parish making blankets for babies and donating paintings.

From a young age, George was a talented artist. She earned a scholarship for the Pratt Institute in New York. She worked on Fifth Avenue and eventually opened her studio in Savage Mill. She did mostly commissioned work, with portraits being her favorite. Among her most outstanding pieces are a portrait of Nicholas “Nick” Mangione, and a portrait of John F. Kennedy, currently at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.

“I love to paint,” George said. “Portraits, landscapes, you name it.”  

McAllister and George are examples on how to face life challenges as faithful servants of God and an inspiration to live life to fullest.

Pope Francis said old age is “a precious treasure that takes shape in the journey of every man and woman’s life.”

“Life is a gift, and when it is long it is a privilege, for oneself and for others. Always,” he said. 

Email Priscila González de Doran at pdoran@CatholicReview.org

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