Ben Schebella, the oldest area resident, passes away

Ben Schebella, the oldest living man from the area, passed away Tuesday afternoon at Tendercare Health Center of Rogers City. Born on February 14, 1906, he lived 100 years, and then some.

Schebella had been living at the family home he helped build in 1939, right through his 102nd birthday. Ben had been at Tendercare for just a little more than two months.

?He liked to tell jokes ? good ones, you know,? said daughter Gail Alford of Onaway. ?He loved people and liked attention. He liked to be at the center of the crowd.?

He was born on his gr

andparents farm in Hagensville to Steve and Rose Schebella. When he was two, the Metz fire of 1908 destroyed his parents? home. They would later move to Tower. His father worked at the Lobdell Emery Factory, where Ben would get job as well, removing knots from wooden rims and steering wheels.

In an account from the February 29, 2008 Outlook, to commemorate his 102nd birthday, the story was told of Ben running from school to watch the fire that changed the history of the town.

Schebella received a lot of support from family in later years, but still lived at home, and still made himself meals.

?He cooked and did things for himself,? said Alford, who credits her father?s long life on him being a woodsman for so long. ?He did what he wanted to do, but I think working out in the woods helped him a lot, it seemed to give him strength.?