Rockland County Couple Could Be Region's Oldest: Report

With a combined age of 212 and 82 years of marriage, an upstate New York couple could be one of the region’s oldest couples, according to the Journal News.

The couple, Duranord and Jeanne Veillard, were married in November of 1932 – the same month former New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected the United State’s 32nd president.

They’ve lived through nearly 12 presidential tenures since they’ve wed, and on Saturday will celebrate Duranord Veillard’s 108th birthday. Jeanne Veillard turns 105 in May.

The couple, initially from Haiti, moved to the New York in 1968 when Duranord Veillard lost his job as a judge in Port-au-Prince, the Journal News reports. They settled in Rockland County’s Spring Valley, and were followed by the rest of their family.

Since then, they’ve had a dozen grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

The newspaper reports that Duranord Veillard stays sharp by starting every morning with five to seven pushups, a cup of tea, oatmeal and fresh fruit. He and his wife also take lots of naps and stay in the house unless they’re going to doctor’s visits.

When asked, Duranord Veillard told the newspaper his secret to a long life.

“That’s God,” he said in a French Creole.

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