SACO — When Ralph Meserve was three months old, he came down with pneumonia and wasn’t expected to live.

Meserve, who will turn 100 next month, proved his doctor wrong.

“I never thought I’d see 100,” said Meserve this past weekend.

On Saturday, Meserve was sitting in the house that he built well over half a century ago on Hall Avenue, at a surprise birthday open house put on by his daughter, Nancy Paquette.

Meserve constantly impresses people with his sharp memories of the past century. For example, he not only remembers the year he became a meter reader, but the exact date, March 11, 1931.

“He’s amazing,” was one phrase that was used over and over again by friends and family attending the party.

“He remembers everything,” said Paquette. She said that when she takes him to a doctor’s appointment, he’ll tell her the history of buildings along the way.

Prior to living on Hall Street, Meserve was born and raised on Summer Street, and has lived in Saco his entire life.

Friend Mike Tremblay said that if he ever has any questions about something in Saco, all he has to do is visit Meserve.

“It would be nice if everyone could live to be this age and have all their faculties,” said Tremblay.

Meserve has been a Mason since 1932 and is the oldest member of Saco Lodge No. 9. Tremblay, who has been a mason for many years, said he and others have enjoyed Meserve’s company.

“That’s the thing with Ralph, even though he’s almost twice the age of us, we still have a lot of fun,” he said.

Meserve said his job as a meter reader, from which he retired in 1975, required him to walk a lot. He credits his long life to the walking.

“That’s the reason why I got to this stage,” he said.

If anyone deserves such a good, long life, it’s Meserve, said fellow mason David Perkins.

“He’s such a nice man. He’s done a lot of nice things for so many people,” he said.

Meserve said he has enjoyed living in Saco.

“I think it’s a nice area to live in,” he said, even though he said the traffic on nearby Beach Street has grown “something awful” over the years.

Meserve said that he has seen many changes over the years.

“Years ago, we had better times than we do today. We didn’t have the troubles we have today,”’ he said.

“If we wanted to buy something, we waited until we had the money,” he said.

Meserve said that when he was younger, he liked woodworking, hunting and fishing.

His granddaughter, Amy Hutchinson, showed off the many paintings that Meserve has done of landscapes and local buildings, including one that he is currently working on.

“He’s like the Energizer Bunny. He keeps on ticking,” she said.

Meserve is the last living motorman for the local electric trolley, although he only drove them for a week. He took on the part time job in 1939. A week later, the trolleys were retired and he switched over to driving buses.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.