The residents at Lawn Terrace Senior Apartments gathered Dec. 19 for their annual Holiday Party, but this year there was an extra twist, as they also celebrated one of their fellow residents, Margarito Perez, who recently turned 101 years old.
Well known and liked at the apartment complex, Margarito enjoyed lots of visitors offering congratulations and reminiscing with him. Ald. Jeylu Gutierrez (14th) stopped by as well. Asking the partygoers what she should do when she starts to feel achy, she was told, ‘You don’t move, you get rusty.”
Margarito is an active go-getter type guy. His story starts in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, where he grew up as the oldest of 10 kids. Immigrating to Brownsville, Texas, in the 1950s, he worked in the migrant fields picking cotton and driving a tractor. There he met and married wife Matilde and they had two children. As his family began to grow, he wanted a better, more stable environment to raise his children.
So, he left Texas and came to Chicago to join his cousin, Alberto, who helped him find a job and housing. Margarito worked two jobs to save enough money to rent a nice apartment and then sent for his wife and children.
It wasn’t long until there were five Perez children. In what spare time he had, Margarito enjoyed belonging to church groups. He organized the first Latino association at St. Mary of Coranada Church and St. Lucy Church in Bridgeport. Some of his favorite pastimes included playing the guitar, singing and writing songs.
When the company he worked for closed, Margarito retired. He collected his pension but this go-getter was not about to stop working. He started his own business as a vendor on Maxwell Street selling automotive parts before he retired once again.
In January of 1998, he moved to Lawn Terrace, following his cousin Alberto who already had an apartment in the building. He liked it well enough but his daughter Maria, says he was “bored out of his mind.”
“My Dad took it upon himself to clean around the outside of the building, picking up scraps of papers etc.,” she said. “Shortly after, Cynthia Grant, who manages the building, offered him a part-time job as a janitorial assistant. He was thrilled and loved it.”
But Margarito still had free time on his hands, so he started going down to the Southwest Regional Senior Center. There he became a member and organized the first Latin American club, promoting cultural exchange and celebrations.
Until he was in his 90s, Margarito took a trip every year back to Mexico to see his siblings. Letting the Greyhound bus do the driving, he enjoyed the scenery.
At age 95, he retired yet again and settled into a slightly less active life. But at one point it seemed there was a chance he might not have made it to his 101st birthday.
For his 100th birthday, Maria planned a party for him. When it came time to get ready to leave for the restaurant, Margarito looked like he might not be feeling well.
In the end, he insisted he was ok and had a great time, but the next day Maria took him to the doctor to make sure.
“I was shocked when the doctor suggested heart surgery at 100 years old,” she remembered. “But after they inserted a butterfly stent, the doctor told us he’d live for another 20 years.”
These days, Margarito likes to spend his time reading, discussing politics, writing stories on his typewriter, playing dominos, bingo, card games and building with his Legos.
He has a caregiver, Pablo Diaz, who comes in a couple of days during the week to help with things like laundry, cleaning the apartment and shopping. But on the other days, Margarito gets his own dinner and takes care of everything he needs himself.
And most any day, Margarito is always ready to take a walk or go joyriding with his daughter to see the sights downtown.
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