A birthday wish that actually became true for one resident

Marie Rzeszutek just turned 100 years old. She has lived in the same house on Charest for 93 years.

By Charles Sercombe
There are birthday milestones and then there are milestones few ever live to see.
Becoming 100 years old is certainly one of them.
On Wednesday, Marie Rzeszutek joined a very exclusive club by becoming a centenarian. How rare is that? In the U.S., only 0.02 percent of the population lives to be 100, according to the U.S. Census.
While most credit healthy living, Rzeszutek, who is still able to walk on her own, said it’s not only “God’s will,” but also living by the philosophy of “Que Sera, Sera.”
For those of a certain age, you will remember this being Doris Day’s signature song. The phrase means “Whatever Will Be, Will Be.”
For 93 years of her 100-year life, Rzeszutek has lived in the same house she still lives in on Charest. Back then, Hamtramck was still a village.
Before marrying, she was a riveter at a plant she no longer remembers the name of but seemed to think it was located on Grand Blvd. The old Packard Plant? Who knows, maybe.
When she married her husband Julian, she quit work and raised three children. She now has nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. They all got together last week and celebrated her birthday. In all there were 100 people there.
Next year, family members joked, there will have to be 101 people at the party.
Understandably, Rzeszutek is a little hard of hearing and her memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be. But she still has a sense of humor, and is quick to smile.
The other trick to living a long life, she said, is to “keep living day-to-day.”
There are more memories she has, but things are foggy. She remembers taking her kids and grandkids on the Boblo boat and riding on Hamtramck’s long gone trolley cars.
One highlight happened unexpectedly. In 1984 Ronald Reagan came to the Polish Century Club located next to her house.
This was during the Republican Presidential Convention, which was taking place in downtown Detroit. Reagan came here for a lunch. As he left, he decided to make stops at nearby houses, including Rzeszutek’s.
Photos were taken of Reagan and his wife, Nancy, standing on her porch before a horde of reporters. Rzeszutek remembers him as “looking great.”
According to a Free Press story, Rzeszutek offered the Reagans a glass of fresh orange juice. Reagan took the drink and offered a toast in Polish: “Kozyham Hamtramck” — or in other words: “Long live Hamtramck.”
There’s another Polish phrase that’s sung at birthdays. It’s “Sto Lat” – which wishes the birthday person to live to 100 years.
Well, Rzeszutek is one of the few people to ever live up to that wish. And so, we’d like to add to that and raise our toast to her and add another “Sto lat” wish for her.
Or as the song goes (in English):
“Hundred years, hundred years, may you live a hundred years.
“Hundred years, hundred years, may you live a hundred years.
“Hundred years, hundred years, may you live a hundred years.
“May you live 100 years!”