Long Island woman celebrates her 108th birthday in Atlantic Beach, but says she's not a day over 39
While celebrating her 108th birthday, which will be on Saturday March 15th, Algy Oustatcher smiles while in the company of family at the Senior Retirement Hotel in the Nautilus Hotel in Atlantic Beach on March 14, 2025. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
With her new husband serving overseas during World War II, Alma Oustatcher had no choice but to rise to the occasion and take over his job at a Bronx hardware store while raising their newborn son.
But on Friday, waiting for a slice of yellow, chocolate-frosted cake adorned with the cursive words "Happy 108th Birthday Algy," her nickname since grade school, seemed like an impossible task.
"I’ll save all this and wait for the cake," she told the handful of loved ones eating the much heartier lunch placed before them Friday afternoon. She repeatedly looked at the cake and asked when she could enjoy it with her two sons, their wives and one of her five grandchildren, who stopped by the New Nautilus Hotel in Atlantic Beach, the retirement community where she has lived in recent years.
They were celebrating her birthday, which falls on Saturday. Even more relatives, including some of her 14 great-grandchildren, are planning to attend another celebration of her many years on Sunday.
"I didn’t do anything to do this," Oustatcher said when asked for any secrets to living to 100 and beyond. She playfully noted that she rarely gives a "straight answer" to any question. And she certainly won’t answer the question "how old are you?"
"She’s said she’s 39 since she was 39," said Ira Oustatcher, 77, the younger of her sons. "My mother had to explain how she could be 39 and her granddaughter was 39. I don’t think we ever got a good answer."
"Yes," interjected Kari Winston, Algy’s granddaughter, now 56. "She said we’re twins."
"Her wit, she keeps you laughing," Ira Oustatcher added. "She’d have you rolling in the aisle."
Born and raised in the Bronx in 1917, Oustatcher, whose maiden name is Heiko, grew up during the Great Depression and became a newlywed to Jack Oustatcher and a mother to Kal Oustatcher soon after the United States entered World War II. Her husband, who owned Ben’s Hardware in the Bronx along with his brothers, then enlisted in the Army and served in England for two years.
After her husband returned from the war and Oustatcher no longer spent her days at the store, she and both her sons would spend most days at the beach near their summer home in Long Beach.
"Nice way to grow up," Ira Oustatcher said. He added that his mom would often join the other mothers watching their children enjoy the sand and sea, rarely wading the water and occasionally playing mah-jongg. Her love of a beachfront view hasn’t wavered at 108.
"She has a balcony overlooking the ocean," her oldest son, Kal, 81, said of her room at her retirement home. "She goes out there even in the winter."
"She was a terrific cook and she was a great mother," he added.
In the Bronx, Oustatcher volunteered with a local chapter of the Organization for Rehabilitation through Training, now known as the global nonprofit ORT, her family said. By selling clothing and women’s beauty products around the neighborhood, Oustatcher raised money for the organization to fund trades education.
After her husband retired from the hardware store, Oustatcher moved to Long Beach full time. For more than a decade after Jack died in 2006 at age 91, she continued to live in their home.
Oustatcher is one of 5,666 centenarians in New York State, according to World Population Review, a website dedicated to population demographics that uses data available through various sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the United Nations.
Census Bureau projections indicate the number of centenarians in America will more than quadruple from the 2024 estimate of 101,000 to around 422,000 in 2054, according to Pew Research Center.
Oustatcher’s many relatives now visit her at the New Nautilus Hotel several times a week for those nearest. When she asks her grandchildren why they "drag" her great-grandchildren along for visits, they explain that the opposite is closer to the truth.
"She’s surrounded by hugs and kisses and ‘bubbee!’ wonderful love, all the time," said daughter-in-law Marlene Oustatcher. A few years ago, when the centenarian broke her hip, her great-grandson, David, then around 8, inched his way into her hospital bed to keep her company.
"She moved a little bit over so he would have a bit more room," Marlene Oustatcher said. "That’s the way all of them feel about her ... They all adore her and ask for her."
With her new husband serving overseas during World War II, Alma Oustatcher had no choice but to rise to the occasion and take over his job at a Bronx hardware store while raising their newborn son.
But on Friday, waiting for a slice of yellow, chocolate-frosted cake adorned with the cursive words "Happy 108th Birthday Algy," her nickname since grade school, seemed like an impossible task.
"I’ll save all this and wait for the cake," she told the handful of loved ones eating the much heartier lunch placed before them Friday afternoon. She repeatedly looked at the cake and asked when she could enjoy it with her two sons, their wives and one of her five grandchildren, who stopped by the New Nautilus Hotel in Atlantic Beach, the retirement community where she has lived in recent years.
They were celebrating her birthday, which falls on Saturday. Even more relatives, including some of her 14 great-grandchildren, are planning to attend another celebration of her many years on Sunday.
"I didn’t do anything to do this," Oustatcher said when asked for any secrets to living to 100 and beyond. She playfully noted that she rarely gives a "straight answer" to any question. And she certainly won’t answer the question "how old are you?"
"She’s said she’s 39 since she was 39," said Ira Oustatcher, 77, the younger of her sons. "My mother had to explain how she could be 39 and her granddaughter was 39. I don’t think we ever got a good answer."
"Yes," interjected Kari Winston, Algy’s granddaughter, now 56. "She said we’re twins."
While celebrating her 108th birthday, which is on March 15, Algy Oustatcher received some sweet treats from her granddaughter Kari Winston at the Nautilus Hotel in Atlantic Beach on March 14. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
"Her wit, she keeps you laughing," Ira Oustatcher added. "She’d have you rolling in the aisle."
Born and raised in the Bronx in 1917, Oustatcher, whose maiden name is Heiko, grew up during the Great Depression and became a newlywed to Jack Oustatcher and a mother to Kal Oustatcher soon after the United States entered World War II. Her husband, who owned Ben’s Hardware in the Bronx along with his brothers, then enlisted in the Army and served in England for two years.
After her husband returned from the war and Oustatcher no longer spent her days at the store, she and both her sons would spend most days at the beach near their summer home in Long Beach.
"Nice way to grow up," Ira Oustatcher said. He added that his mom would often join the other mothers watching their children enjoy the sand and sea, rarely wading the water and occasionally playing mah-jongg. Her love of a beachfront view hasn’t wavered at 108.
"She has a balcony overlooking the ocean," her oldest son, Kal, 81, said of her room at her retirement home. "She goes out there even in the winter."
"She was a terrific cook and she was a great mother," he added.
In the Bronx, Oustatcher volunteered with a local chapter of the Organization for Rehabilitation through Training, now known as the global nonprofit ORT, her family said. By selling clothing and women’s beauty products around the neighborhood, Oustatcher raised money for the organization to fund trades education.
After her husband retired from the hardware store, Oustatcher moved to Long Beach full time. For more than a decade after Jack died in 2006 at age 91, she continued to live in their home.
Algy Oustatcher is shown in her wedding photo taken in the early 1940s. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Oustatcher is one of 5,666 centenarians in New York State, according to World Population Review, a website dedicated to population demographics that uses data available through various sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau and the United Nations.
Census Bureau projections indicate the number of centenarians in America will more than quadruple from the 2024 estimate of 101,000 to around 422,000 in 2054, according to Pew Research Center.
Oustatcher’s many relatives now visit her at the New Nautilus Hotel several times a week for those nearest. When she asks her grandchildren why they "drag" her great-grandchildren along for visits, they explain that the opposite is closer to the truth.
"She’s surrounded by hugs and kisses and ‘bubbee!’ wonderful love, all the time," said daughter-in-law Marlene Oustatcher. A few years ago, when the centenarian broke her hip, her great-grandson, David, then around 8, inched his way into her hospital bed to keep her company.
"She moved a little bit over so he would have a bit more room," Marlene Oustatcher said. "That’s the way all of them feel about her ... They all adore her and ask for her."
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