A The Gift of Age There is only one way to live a long and happy life, and that is to age well, with a smile. Meet Bill Hildebrand. BY KAREN DUNCAN PORTRAIT BY CHAD HUNT At some point in life, birthdays become an unwanted reminder of growing old, something the celebrant would just as soon downplay. Not the case with Bill Hildebrand, who turned 100 on October 22. “I had two parties,” he says with pride. His daughters and son hosted an event that included his 12 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and dozens of other relatives and friends. Bill’s second party was with his cherished Burnett Avenue and Salter Place neighbors, at the Maplewood home he’s lived in since 1960. It was quite an event, drawing nearly 80 guests including Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca, who presented him with a proclamation from the town. William Baldwin Hildebrand was born in 1916 in Newark. His parents, Herman and Juanita, soon moved the family to South Orange. “I grew up in a large house at 413 Centre Street,” he recalls. “I have many great memories of my childhood. My sisters, brother and I all graduated from Columbia High.” In the 1936 edition of The Mirror, Columbia’s yearbook, Bill is featured on the track team. He excelled in the quarter-mile and was accomplished as a long jumper. He and his brother Bob played basketball and football too. As a senior Bill was hired to coach football to 6th - and 7th -graders. “I loved that job,” he says, adding that two boys on his teams went on to play for Notre Dame and Navy. “Things were pretty quiet in our town until the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941,” Bill says. “I was drafted and inducted into the Army on February 16, 1942,” and off he went to basic training in South Carolina. His younger brother Bob enlisted in the Army Air Corps a month later and ultimately went on to became a bombardier. After serving stateside for several years, Bill was sent to Europe in 1944 as a rifleman and a mortar gunner. His first heavy action was the day that General Patton’s 4th Armored Division broke through the German lines, entering the encircled city of Bastogne, Belgium, to relieve the 101st Airborne in what was later to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. Bill spent many nights on guard next to Colonel Creighton “Abe” Abrams’ tank. Colonel Abrams, whom he regarded as a great friend, would be promoted to general and later serve as Army Chief of Staff during the Vietnam era. By Christmas of 1944, Bill was in the thick of significant battles. “I remember barreling down the road with all tanks and half-tracks firing all machine guns into the heavy woods full of Germans,” he says. “We did not stop for anything. I was manning a .30 caliber machine gun. We had artillery coming down on us. It was pretty close.”