Earl Frazier of Chicago's West Side celebrates 103rd birthday
Earl Frazier of Chicago's West Side is the kind of person you just want to know — and as the late Harry Porterfield would have said, he's someone you should know too.
Frazier is strong, kind, and full of interesting stories to tell. On Monday, he is turning 103 years old, and his birthday bash was held a day ahead of time.
Frazier's family and friends got together Sunday for cake and congratulations.
Frazier's parents were sharecroppers in Mississippi, and so was Frazier himself — back when he was 12. He and his late wife, Willie Mae, came to Chicago in 1939.
"You be mean to people, some of them take you down. But I was always good and give. I didn't take. I give."
Frazier is the father of four, and he has 11 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. After retiring from a longtime job at 65, he went to work again — rehabbing and flipping houses.
He said he wanted to make old houses beautiful, and that hard work made the former sharecropper a millionaire.
Frazier said his secret to a long life is eating small portions, and lots and lots of vegetables.
