For Orville Schettle, a World War II veteran, the secret to living to see 100 years old lies in his exercise routine.

“I exercise twice a day, every day,” he said, noting that he does 50 reps of leg lifts and 50 reps of punching with his arms.

Schettle, who lived most of his life in Stillwater and worked at 3M in St. Paul, celebrated his 100th birthday with extended family and a few friends at Bayport’s Lakeside Park Pavilion on Labor Day weekend.

His niece said he lives alone in Houlton, Wis., has a car, is sharp as a tack and has a witty sense of humor.

Dangers at sea

In his 100 years, his most vivid memory is one that happened during his service in WWII.

He joined the U.S. Navy when he was 17, asking his mother to sign for him, and not long after he joined and was assigned to his first gun crew, he had a terrifying night at sea while crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the Joseph Goldberger, a new tanker disguised to look like a cargo ship.

Schettle wrote about that night about 15 years ago for his family:

Life on the ship was cold and wet and the weather was often rough, he wrote. His bunk was below sea level and when the stern of the ship went under a wave in rough seas, the seawater came through the vent like a firehouse, so he slept in his cold weather gear and knee-high boots.

At one point, the ship was going top speed, at 12 knots, transversing 28 miles in 48 hours to get out of rough seas. “At this time I wished I were in a submarine,” he wrote.

Orville Schettle joined the U.S. Navy at age 17. (Courtesy of the family)

But one night in particular was the most harrowing of all.

“One night while being on the 12-4 watch, I came on to the bridge at midnight,” he wrote. “I thought I could see a silhouette of a ship coming at us. I watched it through the spray coming over our ship for several moments. … It was a ship coming right at our midship.”

He said he hollered down to the mate, “We got a ship coming at us … getting awfully close,” and the mate notified the captain. Schettle wrote that everyone stared at the oncoming ship as the crew signaled it. The large English freighter signaled back, “We are out of control.”

“The captain, now steering the ship, hollered down to the engine room … ‘Give me full speed ahead.’ The engine room hollered back, ‘We’re going full speed now!’”

“The English freighter was caught in a large swell between waves coming directly at our midship on the port side and a strong north wind behind him,” Schettle wrote. “We were caught trying to get over the wave and going nowhere. I was about six feet from the captain and scared. The captain hollered, ‘Hang on, we’re about to get rammed.’ I prayed and must have witnessed death as I had my sins flash through my mind in a second. My knees were shaking so bad I could hear them knocking. I tried to hold them with my hands and my arms were just as bad.”

“The captain turned the ship to port directly into the freighter and we just about scraped sides sliding past each other. It was truly a miracle. After we (passed) the ship, the captain said, ‘You should all get on your knees and pray, it’s a miracle we survived.’ The captain was Norwegian and had sailed most of his life.”

Life lessons

Orville Schettle and his wife, Mary Ann, were married 58 years. (Courtesy of the family)

Schettle says his greatest joy in life was his marriage.

In 1947, he met his future wife, Mary Ann Braun, on a blind date. They would go on to marry and have four children. She died in 2005 at age 77.

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When his niece asked him if he liked Mary Ann right away, he said he did. When she asked if Mary Ann felt the same way, he said, “I think so. We all used to hang out at a tavern and she liked that I was the only guy not getting drunk.”

One lesson he would share with others is to travel like he did. “Everyone should get out of our country” so they can appreciate the lifestyle that Americans have.

One thing he enjoys doing every day is going outside when the weather permits. He still has a garden, grows tomatoes and fills his bird feeder.

The biggest change in the world he’s seen is technology, computers and electronics.

“AI, it scares me. The information that is available,” he said. “And people don’t talk to each other like they used to. If I’m at the doctor’s office, everyone is on their phones.”