A special birthday was celebrated this past week at the State Street Assisted Living Center, when one of its residents reached a significant milestone.

    John Pribanic Sr. turned 100 June 22 and the center held a party June 26 that included a special visit from newly-crowned Miss Delaware Heather Lehman.

    For a man that has lived through two world wars, the Great Depression and 19 different presidents of the United States, Pribanic said he has no real secret to living as long as he has.

    In fact, he still is taken back by the thought he’s hit the century mark in birthdays.

    “I never dreamt anything like this would ever happen,” he said. “But it happened and that’s it.”

    Originally from Pittsburgh, Pribanic came to Dover five years ago to be closer to his son Tom, and moved into the State Street center.

    He retired a number of years back from working in the machinery department at Westinghouse, and several years after his wife passed away in 1994, he decided coming to Dover was his best move.

    Pribanic, however, admits that he still misses Pittsburgh, as he lived there for most of his life.

    “Pittsburgh is a good town,” he said. “Even though the steel mills have moved out, it’s still a beautiful city.”

    Always the optimist, though, Pribanic said he’s enjoying his new life at State Street and making the best of what’s around him.

    “I just take it one day at a time, that’s it,” he said. “I try to get along with everybody. I don’t lose my temper, I don’t drink and I don’t smoke anymore.

    “At first it was kind of strange [moving to Dover]. But this is my home now and I meet a lot of new friends.”

    Through the century Pribanic has been around, he said one memory that still sticks out in his mind is the Great Depression.

    He was a 20-year-old man when the market crashed, but said he can find parallels from 80 years ago to the current recession.

    “I remember being out of a job and walking the streets,” Pribanic said. “If you got a job for 10 cents per hour, you took it. But we survived it.

    “Now with this recession, it’s kind of scary. It’s nothing anywhere near what we had in the 1930s. I hope it never does come to that because it’d be trouble.”

    For now, though, Pribinac said he’s trying to keep himself worry free and just live the rest of his life as a good person.

    “I get along with everybody else,” Pribanic said. “I help people any way I can help. I can still take care of myself and I help those who can’t.

    “I’m not any better than the next person. I’m just as good, but not any better.”

Email Brian Citino at brian.citino@doverpost.com