Forever young at heart, still in between jobs

By LOIS KINDLE

Roger Zwieg will turn 90 Aug. 20, but you’d never know it if you spent any time with him at all. Given his zest for living, his positivity and his total recall of every aspect of his life, it’s no wonder he’s currently writing his memoir and having a ball.

His daughter, Ellen Kleinschmidt, bought him a one-year, online subscription to Storyworth.com last Christmas, and Zwieg has finished seven or eight stories thus far.

His writings, naturally, reflect both good times and sad moments, all mixed with vulnerability and humor.

“Some gift,” Zwieg mused. “I have to write something every week!”

“Don’t let him fool you,” said Kleinschmidt. “He just loves it. My dad’s a very good writer, and it’s amazing how he remembers names and everything.”

“It stirs so many memories,” Zwieg acknowledged. “I’m having a lot of fun.”

The Sun City Center resident has quite a story to tell.

Zwieg was born in Milwaukee, Wisc., in 1930 and lived there until he went into the military as a National Guardsman. He served his country for 30 years, two of them in the Korean War and 28 in the Wisconsin Air National Guard. He went in as a private, trained as a rifleman and retired as a major in intelligence.

In 1952, he married Ginny Harris, whom he had met in high school but dated afterward. They’ve been a good match. They celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary in June.

While serving as a reservist, Zwieg had a career in the oil business, working mostly for a company that’s now a subsidiary of Exxon. He started out as a sales trainee, became sales manager and was later offered a transfer to Chicago as a district manager. But he turned down the offer because he and Ginny had just purchased a first home, their 6-year-old daughter Paula had died the previous year, and Ginny had returned to school to become a teacher of deaf children.

Knowing further advancement was now all but dead, Zwieg moved on to a smaller oil company and worked his way to vice president. He left in 1977, bought a lake property in northern Wisconsin and traveled with Ginny in an Airstream throughout most of the country, Canadian provinces and Mexican states.

“My dad lived frugally all his life, and my parents decided to travel while they were still young,” said Kleinschmidt, a retired elementary school music teacher. “He said he could always go back to work, and he likes to say he’s in between jobs.

“Despite their absence, they made every effort to be good grandparents to my two sons, Andy and Brian,” Kleinschmidt said. “They recorded messages and songs in their Airstream and mailed them to us. The boys listened to them over and over.”

Both grandsons adore him.

“Cooks is a living oxymoron,” Brian said. “He’s frugal yet extremely generous. He’s careful yet carefree. He’s short yet stands so tall. He’s funny yet serious. He’s 90 years old yet so young at heart. And he’s my grandfather yet one of my best friends.”

Andy shares similar feelings.

“Cooks has taught me so much over the course of my life. He taught me how to be generous with not just my bank account but my heart. He’s always willing to share his time and talents with people and organizations that he cares about.

“I’m grateful for all the time he spent with me as a child,” he added. “My fondest memories with him include golf, saxophone, traveling and fishing.”

In 1985, the couple sold their Wisconsin property and lived full time in the Airstream for two years before settling in Dunnellon. During the 10 years they lived there, Zwieg, a music lover who enjoys singing, resurrected his saxophone and performed in a trio every Friday night at Rainbow Springs.

Later he would share his love of playing an instrument by offering to help his grandsons purchase their first instruments.

But true to his nature, Zwieg made the boys help pay for them with credits earned through practice on rentals.

“Andy paid his off in three months by practicing faithfully,” he said.

“Brian lasted a week,” Zwieg laughed. “He did not get his trombone.”

While still in Dunnellon, Zwieg landed a job as a correspondent and photographer for the Riverland News.

“My resume said, ‘Have camera, will travel,’ and I was hired,” he said, amused. “I was paid 10 cents a column inch and $2.50 per picture. On a good week, I wrote four articles and made $20.”

He compiled about 99 of those articles into a soft-copy paperback, “Dunnellonstein and Other Good Stuff,” gave copies to his Lutheran church youth group for a fundraiser, and then autographed them all.

In 1995, Zwieg and his bride, moved to Sun City Center, where they resided at Fairway Palms for the first 17 years. In 2013, after a thorough examination and evaluation at the U.S.F. Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, Ginny received a positive diagnosis. The couple decided afterward to move to what Zwieg calls “the big house” at Freedom Plaza, so they would have the option of continuous life care, if needed.

But they’re still living in the tower together.

“Ginny does darn well,” said Zwieg, who has become her faithful caregiver. “I just provide some of her basic needs and follow the Serenity Prayer. That’s what friends are for.

“She’s very patient with me,” he continued. “I gave her a haircut today, and our marriage lasted through it!”

Zwieg is still between jobs.

“Let me know if you hear of anything,” he said.