| John Betar | |
 | |
| Birth: | 20 July 1911 Soueidieh, Ottoman Empire (present-day Syria) |
| Death: | 12 September 2018 Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA |
| Age: | 107 years, 54 days |
| Country: |  SYR USA
|
| Centenarian | |
John George Betar, Sr. (20 July 1911 – 12 September 2018) was a Syrian-born American centenarian.
Biography[]
John Betar was born in Soueidieh, Ottoman Empire (present-day Syria) on 20 July 1911. His parents were George Michael Betar and Mary (née Bal) Betar.
At the age of 10, he moved to the United States with his older brother, Michael George Betar. After a long journey by boat, they landed in Providence, Rhode Island, and eventually reunited with their father in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
He attended Prospect School through the eighth grade and then began peddling fruit along Connecticut's Gold Coast in the 1920s. He also played baseball for the Polish Falcon League.
He married Anna Shawah in Harrison, New York, USA on 25 November 1932. The couple had five children: John Betar Jr. (now deceased), Maryann Skelton (born 1933), Joan Mitchell (c.1938–2006), Judy Metro, and Renee Betar.
He was the owner of Betar's Market in two sequential locations on Broad Street in Bridgeport and worked there tirelessly from the mid-1930s to 1967, when he took up real estate and passed ownership of the grocery store to his brother Michael. He was a founding father of Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in Bridgeport and served as Parish Council President from 1957 to 1968. From 1991 to 2005, he and his wife divided their time between Fairfield and West Palm Beach, Florida.
In November 2017, the couple celebrated their 85th wedding anniversary, being reported as the United States' longest-married couple.
He outlived his son John G. Betar Jr., his daughter Joan B. Mitchell, and two grandchildren Ruth Skelton and Andrew Pike.
Betar died in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA on 12 September 2018 at the age of 107 years, 54 days. At the time of his death, he had his wife Ann; three children Maryann Skelton, Judith Metro, and Renee Betar; one nephew Michael G. Betar Jr.; 14 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.
His wife Ann Betar died on 16 April 2019 at the age of 103 years, 208 days.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Joan Betar Mitchell Obituary Legacy, 4 November 2006
- John Betar Obituary Legacy, 15 September 2018
- John George Betar Find A Grave