By Angela Hill - Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND
ALL THE NEWS COVERAGE and birthday parties and fawning attention are great, but when they're just because of the notably numerous times you've been around the sun, it can get a little old.
So says Oakland's Andrew Hatch, who, by the way, has made the trip 111 times as of today. Not that potentially being the oldest man in the state and nearly the oldest person in the nation (that's currently Walter Breuning, 113, of Montana) is a big deal or anything.
"I'm tired of the parties. I feel pretty good for a youngster, and that's about all there is to it," Hatch said with a sly wink earlier this week from the lobby of his
OK, we'll skip over that trivial birthday thing for the moment, Mr. Hatch, but still provide well-deserved fawning and media attention — just for being the cool dude you are.
Yes, Hatch is a cool dude. Just the nicest, sharpest, spunkiest, friendliest, most capable man you'd ever want to know. Age really has nothing to do with all that, other than to provide him with a vast array of stories to pepper any conversation. Like when he used to go hunting for jack rabbits in the "country" of Castro Valley and Hayward, back before all the freeways
"That got me right here," he said, touching his chest.
He traveled for years as a merchant marine, working on cargo ships all over the world. He taught himself Spanish when he was in Mexico City. He survived an apartment fire in 1971 in West Oakland, though he lost a couple of fingers dangling from a burning window. He worked as a blacksmith, an auto mechanic and a taxi driver, and even drove Jimmy Carter to the Oakland airport one time.
Hatch's only daughter, Delane Sims, used to ride along with her dad in the cab on occasion and was there when the pre-presidential Carter hopped in.
"He asked my dad's advice, and my dad told him to take his message to the people," Sims said. "Carter and his assistant gave me a dollar.
"Mr. Carter's still around of course, but who knew my dad would outlive most of the presidents from the past century?"
Born on the bayou
OK, so that's a good lead-in back to the birthday. (Sorry, Mr. Hatch, but we have to do it.) Hatch was born Oct. 7, 1898, in Louisiana, but his family soon moved to Houston. He had two sisters and five brothers — all gone now. His grandmother lived in Oakland, so he'd take the train to come visit, finally moving here for good in 1933. He had a son early on, who died many years ago. Then his daughter, Delane, came along very late in life, the apple of his eye.
"He is the best daddy in the world," Sims said.
He's lived in three centuries. Lived through earthquakes, wars, the Great Depression, social movements and technological transformations.
"He's seen so much history," Sims said. "All the civil rights events. But he reaches past racism. Never lived his life carrying that baggage."
Going to town
He has some hearing trouble but otherwise is healthy. He can still get around just fine on his own but likes the speed of his motorized cart to "go to town" for errands, zipping down to the drugstore to buy coffee, soap to do his own laundry and a pack of his favorite Juicy Fruit gum. He's on top of current events and politics, with an opinion as strong as his grip. He voted for Obama and is pretty pleased with his performance so far.
"I think he's doing pretty good," Hatch said. "He's doing 100 in the shade and one on ice," he added, using one of his favorite sayings.
Hatch is fiercely independent. He adores his daughter, seven grandchildren and a "whole bunch" of great-grandchildren, "when you count extended family," he said, including little 5-month-old Samara, who he calls "my pretty gal." She came to visit Monday with her mom, Sherrita Cole, Sims' daughter.
Hatch was asked his secret to longevity. "Tell Samara how she can live to 111," Sims coaxed, and Hatch kidded back with some sound advice: "Live on your own, and don't take no wooden nickels!"
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