Lansing’s ‘Stan the Man’ celebrates 100th birthday at open house

LANSING, Ill. (January 10, 2024) – “He’s still going. Doesn’t stop. We call him Stan the Man,” said a guest at an open house on Saturday celebrating the 100th birthday of Stanley Zwier of Lansing.

Close to 100 relatives and friends made their way to the fellowship hall at Oak Glen United Reformed Church throughout the afternoon to wish him well. There was a consensus among those who attended that Zwier is three things: a person with an overwhelmingly pleasant demeanor, an active individual who is seldom idle (unless it’s Sunday), and a man of God.

Organized by family, the gathering included snacks, black and gold decorations with three big helium number balloons, and a table of pottery bowls and containers of various sizes and colors all made by Zwier’s hands with a sign indicating that each guest was to select one to take home.

You don’t live a century without enduring some tragedy and for Zwier, there was poverty and loss, but also a rewarding life centered on God and full of love from family. At 100 he is still thriving, still active, and still serving the Lord in every way he can.

Lean times in Lansing

Born in Columbus, Montana, on January 9, 1924, Zwier’s father moved his family to Lansing when he was just two years old. His father, a farmer who only had four years of education, encountered drought, grasshopper infestations, and hail that devastated his crops and he hoped that Lansing would provide a better farming environment.

“We were very poor,” Zwier said. “Those were tragic years.”

Some of the most vivid memories of his younger years come from living through the Great Depression. He remembered a period of having water disconnected because his family couldn’t pay the $3 water bill.

“I lived through the Great Depression and it was a terrible time. Most men lost their jobs, but you still needed food. Sometimes the government would give out free food,” he said. “It wasn’t until 1938 that we were out of the Great Depression.”

In 1934, when he was 10 years old, he worked for a farmer named Reimer Van Til for 8 cents an hour. At the end of his first week of work, he collected his $3 of pay in cash.

“I put it in my pocket and lost it on my way home,” he said. “My boss told me to follow the same path home and look for it. I did and I found all of it. It pays to pray.”

Zwier also remembers a time when you could buy a home in Schultz Park for $1,200.

A century of memories

Zwier has lived the last 98 years in Lansing. He attended Munster Christian School and then Thornton Fractional High School in Calumet City. Following high school, he was drafted, but at the time he was working on a farm and his boss appealed the draft board to exempt him from the draft because he was needed as an employee. Despite his wishes to serve his country, he continued farming throughout the war while his brothers served.

“I remember that there were dust storms in the west during the Great Depression. And I remember the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1932 and ’33,” he recalled. “I remember Art Chester at the Ford Airport would go over 200 miles an hour with his plane and we would all marvel as he flew over Lansing.”

One of his funniest memories is a time when a pack of mules escaped from a farm on Wentworth Avenue. “They had mules that did the hard work and once in a while they’d get loose and run all over Lansing.”

There were also dark times during Zwier’s life. He still grieves the brother who took his own life at a young age.

“When it came to the death of my brother, it affected many people,” Zwier said. “It was a terrible thing to go through. He was a brilliant, educated man. He came home from the service, went to college, and later was in a mental institution and sadly took his own life.”

Although Zwier wasn’t able to serve during World War II due to his boss’s request to the draft board, he did get his chance once the war had ended. He enlisted and served 14 months from 1946 into 1947 and was a radar operator on a ship.

After his service he worked as a carpenter. He also built his own home with use of manual tools. He was then a drapery installer for Roseland Drapery Company.

The highlight of his life was when he saw a young girl in the pews at Munster Christian Reformed Church as they were practicing choir.

“I was with my cousin and I told him, ‘I’m going to marry that girl’ even though I didn’t know her at all.” That gut feeling turned out to be true. He did marry that girl. Her name was Cornelia Schaap. They were married for 62 years before she passed away 12 years ago.

“She was God’s gift to me,” he said. The couple had three children and lost a fourth.

A man of God

“My faith has been the biggest thing in my life,” said Zwier. “I know I’m saved by grace.”

As a young child, he told his mother that he wanted to be a missionary and a carpenter. He spent several years in a carpentry career and he said that the world around him became his mission field.

He taught Sunday School and Catechism for 40 years and served as a chaplain at Cook County Jail for 20 years. He was also a cadet leader for 10 years and in 1974 helped to form the Illiana Pro Life Committee. He still currently teaches the Bible at St. Anthony’s in Lansing.

For several years, he visited shut-ins and ministered to those close to death. “I would visit and stay with them until they died,” he said. More than 30 individuals were comforted by Zwier in their final moments.

He’s also been a deacon and elder at his church for many years and he still goes to church every week at Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Lansing.

“The Bible tells us to seek the kingdom,” he said. “Success doesn’t mean the accumulation of things. Living for God is our sole purpose in life.”

Cheryl Schaap of Dyer is a niece of Zwier’s who is also a nurse, so she makes herself available to him when he has medical questions or concerns.

“With him it’s all about ‘Where are people with God? Are you ready to go to Heaven?’” she said. “He even drives elderly friends to Bible study.”

A mantra that Schaap hears from him often is, “God’s not done with me yet.”

Zwier recalled many times when he had an opportunity to minister to others when he was in homes in his job as a drapery installer. One time when hanging drapery in a house in Dolton, he started chatting with the homeowner and complimenting her on the beautiful furniture.

“She told me she was unhappy and wanted to take her own life,” he said.

He did his best to encourage her to continue living and expressed that she shouldn’t give up. He told her about a Christian radio station and told her that if she has those thoughts, she should tune in. “She turned it on and the first words she heard were, ‘Don’t take your life,’” said Zwier.

She later shared with him that she could feel the presence of a higher power leading the way.

“On my wife’s tombstone are the words ‘In Christ’ and I would like to have the same thing on mine,” Zwier said.

“A gentle soul”

Jay Schaap made his way down from Hudsonville, Michigan to wish his uncle well on his 100th birthday. Described by Schaap and others in his family as “a gentle soul,” Zwier was a regular presence in his life growing up. His family lived nearby in South Holland and the two families were close.

“I grew up at a time when you didn’t call ahead to ‘go to company’, you’d just knock and show up,” he said. And there were plenty of times of just showing up at one another’s homes to spend time together.

“He’s easy going and it’s easy to cherish him. He’s a good guy,” said Schaap. “I’m happy to see him make it to 100.”

Schaap recalled one funny story of visiting Zwier with his own kids when they were little. Zwier showed the kids a trick — holding up some of his fingers and then listening for the dog to bark that many times and then give him a treat. The kids were in awe and convinced that the dog knew how to count. “The kids kept asking for a counting dog after that,” he laughed. “He’s a bit of a jokester.”

All around the room were similar sentiments of Zwier’s kindness and humor.

“I love his spirit and positive attitude and how he enjoys doing his pottery. He’s a real inspiration,” said niece Laurel Schaap, who traveled from Vermont with her husband for the gathering. She said that family members had come from even farther, including a grandson in Seattle and someone from Rhode Island.

His oldest living niece, Lee Meter of St. John agreed, saying “He always has a positive attitude and a kind word.”

Staying active – and restful – at 100

Zwier is incredibly independent and active at his age. He is an avid reader of mostly religious books, but some fiction. He uses a magnifier for reading and a hearing aid to help him hear conversations, but he’s overall in excellent health.

“In the summer he gardens and in the winter he does pottery,” said his daughter, Diane VanderWeele of Wheaton.

He still drives to appointments and to shop and to go to church.

What he spends the bulk of his time on in the winter months is pottery, a hobby he took up 25 years ago. He recently bought a new kiln and he spends hours crafting colorful bowls and other containers.

“One time a cardiologist asked him what he attributed his long life to and he he told him ‘I rest on the sabbath.’ He believes in that and it’s in his medical records,” VanderWeele said.

Related

• Lansing’s Vera Schmidt celebrates 100th birthday (August 6, 2023)