Turning 100: “It’s All Good”
By Jessica Wald
It was the year 1926: Calvin Coolidge was the 30th president of the United States, average yearly wages in the nation were around $1,450, a new car around $800, first-class stamp was 2 cents, a loaf of bread could be purchased for around 10 cents and milk for 14 cents per pint. Napoleon’s newest centenarian was also born in 1926, on April 7.
This week US Navy Veteran Marvin Wentz celebrated 100 years and reiterated, “It’s all good,” as he’s said throughout the years. His daughter Kathy Wentz, said it was decades ago when he started saying it: “How’s it going Dad? ‘It’s all good’,” he’d answer; and the saying stuck, she said with a smile.
Marvin was born to Adam and Bertha (Rau) Wentz on the family farm, about 13 miles east of Napoleon. He was the oldest of three boys, with younger siblings the late Chuck and Myron.
Marvin attended country school until he was seven and in the second grade, when his family moved to town. He graduated as valedictorian of his class of 20 students, from Napoleon High School in 1944. He then entered the Navy and served. . .