Man celebrates 100th birthday during COVID-19 quarantine in NJ care facility

Gloucester County man spends 100th birthday in self-quarantine

A Gloucester County man's family celebrated with him from outside his retirement home.

SEWELL, N.J. - If you didn’t know, 100 years ago a lot was happening in the world. The NFL was just forming, prohibition had begun, band-aids were invented, and the Olympic rings first appeared.

Another thing you didn’t know was that Art Sebold was also born 100 years ago.

FOX 29’s Hank Flynn met with Sebold and is family as they celebrated his centennial birthday amid a global pandemic.

Sebold wanted to celebrate his birthday by blasting polka music and dirty jokes Tuesday regardless of how others felt about it.

Considering that he was turning 100 years old and spending his birthday quarantined, his spirits were impressive.

All the residents at the Advanced Subacute Rehabilitation Center in Gloucester County, including Sebold, were quarantined in Gloucester County due to the health crisis.

The quarantine definitely put the kibosh on Sebold’s birthday plans with his daughter and granddaughter, but they were determined to come up with a back-up plan.

Initially, his birthday plans included all kinds of spectacular celebratory activities but in order to abide the quarantine regulations they instead celebrate outside the facility – separate from Sebold.

Sebold’s family and friends sang to him and gave him birthday desserts through the cracked window of his room.

Originally from Wisconsin, Sebold fell sick while visiting his daughter in New Jersey so now he stays at the rehabilitation facility full time.

So far, he missed being outdoors the most. “I’d like to go for a nice car ride,” he told Hank Flynn.

There’s little excitement and joy to be maintained during quarantine but take a page out of Sebold’s book – if a guy can do a hundred years and still rip jokes then we can too.

No matter what challenges life throws your way, be like Art – and that’s Hank’s Take.