(Left to right) Franklin Estes of Westfield converses with his granddaughter Kim Daniels a day after his 98th birthday. (Photo by Peter Francis)
WESTFIELD – After moving to Minnesota a short while ago, it takes a major event for Kim Daniels to venture to Massachusetts these days.
This week marked a special occasion though, one she wouldn’t miss.
Daniels’ grandfather, Franklin Estes of Westfield, was turning 98 years old Tuesday, and her only worry was that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him.
“I get tired if I work outside for an hour,” joked Daniels as she sat beside her Grandpa during a rare moment when he wasn’t manicuring his property or running errands – activities that are a distant memory for most his age.
Asked whether he is the oldest resident in the city’s Hampden Village neighborhood, Estes said he doesn’t doubt it.
“I think so. I think I’d be the oldest anywhere,” he said with a giggle that belies his age. “I’ve actually met a few people in their 90s around.”
Estes, who grew up in the North Adams area and resided there for over 50 years, has lived in Westfield for almost three decades now.
“The wife and I were both deciding to retire, I was 70 and she was 62, I think. She had started Bancroft Bridal in Agawam and had turned it over to her daughters,” he said. “We were looking around for a place, came up here and it was just so lovely here. People we talked to were so happy, so we decided on this area.”
Prior to retiring to the Whip City, Estes wired cable and worked in manufacturing, serving as a plant manager for General Cable of Williamstown and then for Gavitt Wire & Cable in Brookfield.
“I worked in Connecticut and was transferred to South Carolina for a while, where I got a wire and cable plant started,” said Estes, who has spent much of his life hard at work and has never forgotten his humble beginnings.
“We went through a lot of tough times. I graduated from high school at 16 in 1932, during the Depression. Back then, you graduated from Williamstown High, you went to Williams for free,” said Estes of Williams College, a school that is among the most expensive in the country today. “I had to leave (Williams) after two years when my father was injured. He was in a hospital in Boston recovering, so I got a job in North Adams through the superintendent, who I used to caddy for, and I worked to support my family.”
Now in his shiniest golden years, Estes spends much of his time reading history and mystery novels, watching Fox News and listening to big band records.
“In North Adams, we had this fella that would get the big bands on their way from Boston and all over New England, and it was a good stop for them. We used to listen to all the big bands,” he said. “I’m a voracious reader as well. Dan Brown, John Patterson, Bill O’Reilly… They keep me busy in the cold winter months.”
Despite his advancing age, Estes is among the sharpest tacks in Hampden Village, a man whose mind is still keen, and whose body still spry enough to get around with relative ease, even up on his roof to shovel in the winter.
“I’ve always been extremely active – I mow my own lawn, tend to my flowers, cut my own firewood. I used to clean my eaves, but my neighbors threatened to call my grandchildren,” he said with a mischievous chuckle.
At 98, Franklin Estes still enjoys tending to his garden. (Photo by Peter Francis)
Estes still enjoys playing golf, too, though he said he hasn’t been to his favorite course, East Mountain Country Club, yet this summer. He was also a member of the Greater Westfield YMCA, but lost interest in it when his wife Althea passed away from cancer in 1996, a woman he has “never found anyone beautiful enough to replace.”
These days, the loves of Estes’ life are his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who he talks to all the time and visits with great regularity. Daniels says that “means the world” to her and her family.
“My kids adore him. We have a picture of my daughter when she was four years old jumping on his back while he was trying to have a conversation on the phone,” she said. “She’s 22 now and they still talk all the time on the phone.”
“My family is very attentive. It’s a small family – I only have one grandson and granddaughter,” said Estes. “They worry about me and check on me all the time.”
Daniels added that her brother and three nephews live in New Hampshire and are thus able to see Grandpa frequently.
Estes said he is headed up to the Granite State in a few weeks, one of several northbound pilgrimages he makes during the year.
“I stay for a couple of weeks, but then I’m ready to come home,” he said, his smile a spitting image of Boston Red Sox great Johnny Pesky. “I go up there for Thanksgiving and then Easter, but during winter I mainly hunker down here.”
Asked how he is able to stay in such great shape and whether he has advice to the rest of the “greatest generation” on staying young, Estes claims that it’s all about maintaining a positive frame of mind.
“Just keep happy and active. Having a good outlook on life, no matter what comes along,” he said. “I’ve had my ups and downs, but I’m still surviving.”
“No, you’re thriving!” said Daniels, to which her grandfather nodded approvingly at the correction with a twinkle in his eye.
She’s right. For Franklin Estes, these golden years aren’t dimming – they’re only getting brighter.
