Wichita man lives cheerfully at 106

On Monday, at the age of 106, Spencer Yancey of Wichita was asked whether he fears death.

“No,” he said.

“I was actually hoping the time comes soon. I’ve been here too long already.”

He grins when he says this. But he says the same slightly dark thing often, to staff members at Larksfield Place, the retirement community where he’s lived the last 14 years, and he’s said it with such earnestness that they believe him.

People there, meeting him at first light, see him grin that big grin and call out, whether in jest or in disappointment: “Once again, God didn’t take me.”

He's lonely. And it’s been 14 years since his first and only love passed on.

But if he dies, they will mourn. Spencer Yancey — a widower, farmer’s son, former school teacher, former school basketball coach, former school district superintendent, former insurance salesman, former bank executive, former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, former glass company sales manager — has become in 14 years one of Larksfield’s more beloved residents.

Larksfield receptionist Ericka Holmes says Yancey could also be named, possibly, the most interesting man in the world.

Consider the evidence:

▪  For three of the past four years at Larksfield, with more than 100 residents and staff members competing, Yancey has won or placed second in the Larksfield Place NCAA college basketball bracket, said Larksfield maintenance man Mike Pickell.

“I know basketball,” Yancey said.

“I’d take that man to Vegas,” Pickell said. “He’s that sharp.”

He won the Larksfield Place bridge tournament this year.

▪  Yancey swims for half an hour three days a week in the Larksfield pool. He takes fitness classes. He reads the news every day. He orders ice cream with chocolate syrup every day and drinks two cups of hot cocoa for lunch and dinner every day. He cheerfully attends the twice-a-week Happy Hours at Larksfield, where drinks are served.

In his room, he points to several photos of his deceased wife and speaks not in sorrow but in joy. “We were good together.”

▪  E-mail was invented in the 1960s, when Yancey was in his 50s, and became widely available in the early 1990s, when Yancey was in his 80s, and yet Yancey spends half his day e-mailing acquaintances and friends.

▪  Yancey sings golden oldies in the Larksfield Place singing group, though his near total deafness means he finishes songs at different times than the other singers.

▪ And if someone hands him scribbled questions, he answers cheerfully.

Here are questions we wrote out for him, and his answers:

What is the secret to living 106 years?

“My mother lived to be 105,” he said. “So there’s that, and clean living.”

He laughed.

Are you lonely?

“Yes,” he said. “Everyone I knew is gone, even all my first cousins. I have one nephew. So, yes.”

How did you win the Larksfield NCAA bracket?

“I follow basketball. I was a basketball coach. I follow the teams.”

What is your favorite team?

“The WSU Shockers. My wife and I were season ticket holders for more than 50 years. I was not happy when those two good players (Ron Baker and Fred Van Vleet) didn’t get drafted, but it seems as though they are making all the right moves.”

What was your wife’s name, and how long were you married?

“Her name was Charlotte Miller, and we were married 60 years. We did not have children, but we lived a very happy life together. She was a schoolteacher and also taught Sunday school for 17 years. She played piano and played organ. I lost her on April 13, 2002.”

When and where were you born?

“Honeywell, Missouri, on Feb. 2, 1910. So it’s 2-2-10, and I’m a groundhog!”

What is your favorite memory from 106 years of life?

“Oh … I have many, but I can’t think of a single one to say here.”

He grinned again.

“Wait.

“I do have one.”

“My favorite memory was all the 60 years I spent with Charlotte.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Wichita man lives cheerfully at 106."