ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220023
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: for seniors
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
Benjamin Harrison was president and there were only 42 states in 1890, the year Julius Krieg was born.
Since then he's seen 19 more chief executives and eight more states added to the union. Krieg celebrated his 107th birthday Friday, and he's still going strong.
Krieg attributes his longevity to keeping busy. A former of employee of Chase Brass & Copper Company in Waterbury, Conn., Krieg was always tinkering and creating.
By the time he retired at age 65 after 371/2 years with the company, he had become supervisor of office methods. Along the way he introduced an efficient mechanized accounting system, designed and made space-saving desks and cabinets, patented a visible punch-card filing system and accounting procedure, and invented a way to produce unlimited numbers of legible carbon copies in an age before copy machines.
At home in 1934, Krieg made a Christmas scene featuring the Three Wise Men, complete with moving camels, from oatmeal boxes, ribbons and pieces of wire and tin cans. It still works today. After his retirement he wrote a book of limericks, which his son, Noel, copyrighted.
One of his limericks is:
"Picnickers are a peculiar class.
They drink tea that contains sassafras.
And on what do they dine?
Pigs knuckles and wine.
They even dine on a lawn of green grass!"
He and his wife, Helen, a former concert pianist who is 94, moved to Blacksburg in the early 1960s to be closer to Noel, 63, who is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of Biology at Virginia Tech. Julius and Helen Krieg have been married for 70 years.
These days Julius Krieg says he's "feeling as good as can be expected." He needs oxygen to help him breathe and a hearing aid for conversation. A retinal hemorrhage a couple of years ago left him blind, but his wife, son and caretakers say he still has a quick wit and loves jokes, games and good company.
Noel Krieg vividly remembers the unique Halloween costume that looked like a Ralston cereal box his father made for him when he was 10 or 12. He said he considers himself "extremely lucky" to have his parents nearby. "I like to take care of them, and I try to give them as good a time as possible. I still enjoy their company. They were very good to me when I was growing up."
RETIRED AND SENIOR VOLUNTEER PROGRAM, 1 Franklin St., Courthouse Annex, Christiansburg. Victoria Scott, 382-5775:
*Today, 10 a.m., both Christiansburg groups will go to the SHARE warehouse in Pulaski and have lunch out.
*Thursday, 2 p.m., the Blacksburg group will go to the SHARE warehouse in Pulaski and have lunch out.
*Monday, 9 a.m., the quilters will meet at the Courthouse Annex. At 2 p.m., the Shawsville group will go to Heritage Hall.
*Tuesday, 2 p.m., the Warm Hearth group will go to Brookmeade for the monthly birthday party.
BLACKSBURG SENIOR PROGRAMS, Blacksburg Community Center, 725 Patrick Henry Drive. Joy Herbert, 961-113
*Today, 8:30 a.m., trip to Winston-Salem, N.C. Call for information.
*Thursday, 10 a.m., the discussion group presents Vernon Baldwin, a retired Virginia Tech professor, who will speak on "More About Your Genes and How They Work."
CHRISTIANSBURG SENIOR CENTER, 655 Montgomery St., Sherry Kostric, 382-8173:
*Friday, noon, the Senior Trip-Takers Award Luncheon, at the National Guard Armory. Bring a covered dish.
*Tuesday, 2 p.m., Senior Advisory Board meeting.
RADFORD SENIOR CENTER, 27 First St. Mary Jane Harmon, 731-3634:
*Friday, 9:30 a.m., trip to New River Valley Mall, Wal-Mart and Books-A-Million in Christiansburg. Transportation fee: $2. The senior center will be closed today.
GILES COUNTY SENIOR CENTER,1320 Wenonah Ave., Pearisburg. Betty Letsinger, 921-3924:
*The Giles Senior Center's new hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The center offers a variety of crafts classes, events and social activities each week. Call for details.
PULASKI SENIOR CENTER, 106 N. Washington Ave. Dawn Hensley, 980-1000:
*Tuesday, 10 a.m., breakfast at Shoney's.
Senior shorts
*Senior Group Dances: Tuesdays, 6-9 p.m., New River Valley Mall food court. Bring a snack or nonalcoholic drink. Matilda Shumate, 382-6346.
*Senior Employment Program: Job placement assistance and skills training for job seekers 55 years or older. New River Valley Agency on Aging, 980-7720 or 639-9677.
*Senior Centers: offer a variety of ongoing activities, trips and classes. Call for a newsletter and a calendar of events.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Julius Krieg (left) turned 107 onby CNBFriday. With him is his wife Helen Krieg, who will be 95 on the 28th
of this month, and his son Noel Krieg, a Virginia Tech biology
professor. color.