Centenarian Celebrates Milestone In Style

Phyllis Bauernschmidt enjoyed a grand 100th birthday celebration at Brightview Senior Living in Severna Park on June 5, two days before she officially hit the century milestone on June 7. The party included family, friends, and Brightview residents and staff.

After the party, rather than relax and reminisce about her extraordinary life, Bauernschmidt did what she’s done for a century - she got ready for her next adventure! The following day, a smaller group of family members boarded an Amtrak train bound for Bauernschmidt’s favorite city, the Big Apple.

“New York is my favorite place in the world!” said the Bayonne, New Jersey, native who first visited the city with her family when she was just 7 years old and saw the Rockettes perform.

“Years ago when we were talking about (going to New York City for my 100th birthday), I didn’t think it could happen,” she said. “I am the only one in my extended family to make it to 100! But I’ve been very lucky.”

Her New York birthday trip included hotel accommodations in the heart of the city, Times Square, and a dinner at the famous Sarabeth’s, where a Tony Award winning performer serenaded her with a traditional “Happy Birthday” and a festive rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “It Had to Be You.”

Bauernschmidt was born Phyllis Roberson on June 7, 1925, to loving parents — the middle child between a brother and a sister — less than 20 miles away from her beloved Manhattan. She vividly remembers the route she took when, at only 11 years old, she made her first solo trip to New York City. “I wouldn’t suggest a child try that now,” she said, “but my mother trusted me, and I was very responsible.

“Mother was a strong woman who made sure we ate very healthy, good food. She was a great cook,” Bauernschmidt said. “She was way ahead of her time in terms of good nutrition. She was a conscientious cook. You ate food that was good for you, and she never wasted.”

Bauernschmidt’s adventurous nature likely came from her mother. “She made sure we got outside, hiked, camped and played outside in the fresh air as often as possible,” she explained. “I had wonderful camping adventures, so I grew up with mountain climbing and lots of activities.”

In her adult life, she stayed active as an aerobic dancer.

Shortly after graduating from Wellesley College with a biblical studies degree in 1946, she attended the Missouri wedding of a classmate, the bride. At the reception, she met a handsome class of 1946 United States Naval Academy graduate, George Bauernschmidt Jr., who was attending the wedding of his classmate, the groom.

The would-be couple spent the evening talking. “I remember him saying, ‘Phyllis, I want to marry a woman like you,’” she recalled. She returned to New Jersey without exchanging contact information with her suitor.

Years later, Bauernschmidt was working at former luxury department retailer Bonwit Teller as a fashion buyer in New York City when she heard from George. He was pursuing a master’s degree at New York University. The groom from the fated Missouri wedding had learned that Phyllis was working in New York City and urged his friend to look her up.

“We connected, but I didn’t remember him,” she admitted.

The reunion was a boat ride around Manhattan Island on April 30, 1957. If he failed to make an impression a decade earlier, he certainly did a better job the second time. George proposed barely more than two months later, over the Fourth of July weekend, and the couple was married that September. “George proposed and I remember saying, ‘I cannot say no to you!’” Bauernschmidt recalled.

The couple settled in Severna Park, where his parents lived; George was a graduate of Severn School and earned a law degree from the University of Maryland. Together they raised five children: George Bauernschmidt III, Janet Gill, Emilie Langfitt, Nancy Kasner and James Bauernschmidt. When her children were older, she started a career in real estate, which she practiced until she was in her 80s.

She’s circled the globe twice on extended trips with her father, and she has taken two more recent trips to Prague, as well as numerous other jet-setting adventures home and abroad. For her 99th birthday, her family took her to the Myakka Elephant Ranch in Florida. She recalls falling in love with the gentle giants on her first trip to the circus as a child at Madison Square Garden.

When asked what has changed the most in the last 100 years, she playfully rolled her eyes at the mention of technology. She reads a paper copy of The Wall Street Journal daily. “I have to know what’s going on,” she noted. “And for the life of me, I do not understand artificial intelligence! But I would like to.”

She also reads the Journal of American Medicine Association (JAMA) weekly and is amazed at all the advancements and research that are happening. “I think that is very exciting,” Bauernschmidt said.

“As far as I am concerned, when JFK (President John F. Kennedy) was shot, that’s when the country changed. Our innocence was gone. That was a pivotal moment,” she said with a sigh.

As for today, she said, “I think we’ve done permanent damage. There is too much hate in the world. What the world needs now is kindness and prayers. All we can do is pray. I don’t think there is anything better that we can do.”

Bauernschmidt has 10 grandchildren and one great grandchild. She’s already planning her next trip to New York City.