Port Jervis centenarian’s birthday celebrated

PORT JERVIS – At 100 years of age, Denis DeGroat, Jr. of Port Jervis has lived an active life of service.

DeGroat, a Purple Heart veteran, has been committed to his family, his community and his country throughout his entire life. 

He served his nation as an Army combat engineer in some of fiercest battles of WWII, then returned home as a wounded veteran to establish and run his own well-drilling, heating, and plumbing business into his 90s.  

He and his late wife Marion raised eight children – Fred DeGroat, Harry DeGroat, Harriet Vantuyl, Connie Mandakis, Marion Konikowski, and Sue DeMarco – in his Port Jervis hometown region, never living far from the North Street house where he was born.

DeGroat was surprised with a 100th birthday celebration at the Erie Trackside Manor exactly 100-years from the April 6, 1924, day of his birth.

There was no work or service expected from the centenarian as dozens of family members, friends, and neighbors gathered to celebrate 100 years of a life well-lived.  DeGroat was greeted by a steady stream of members of his large family, including his children, siblings, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and others who came to share in the happiness of the day.

Accolades and citations were presented by Port Jervis Mayor Dominic Cicalese and Senator James Skoufis who put DeGroat’s birth year into context.

“Calvin Coolidge was president – he gave his first radio address of any president in the country. That year we discovered that we are in the Milky Way Galaxy, and it is not the only galaxy in the universe. We found a second galaxy. You how many there are now that we know about? A trillion,” he said. 

Mayor Cicalese drew a standing ovation as he greeted DeGroat as a fellow ‘Aries’ and proclaimed April 6, 2024 as Dennis DeGroat, Jr. Day.  

Ryan sent an official Congressional record saluting the remarkable service and dedication of the 100-year-old war veteran and called upon a grateful nation to always honor…