Former Marine is 93 years old, keeps on marching
At 93 years old, Ellis Verdin is an inspiration – literally.
Despite his elder age, this Luling senior citizen can typically be found three days a week pumping iron and using weight machines at Anytime Fitness in Luling and his muscles are in good physical condition.
For those interested in his secret to youth, Verdin said it’s all about staying in motion.
“I keep on doing it because when you stop, that’s when you start getting old,” he said.
With this mindset, it’s no wonder that Verdin has lots of friends at the fitness center.
In fact, they are more like fans.
They say he inspires them to do better in their own work outs.
“He just inspires me so much,” said Linda Gamel of Luling. “And it’s not just me, he has quite the following here. I’ve been friends with him and his wife for about the past three years.”
Another in the long line of Verdin’s supporters is Pete Cassagne, who recalled a funny story about the fitness center’s favorite senior.
“I was working out over on one of the machines,” Cassagne said. “Well, I took a break to go get some water and he slid into my spot without even changing the weight and just started ripping off reps. I told him on the QT, ‘Hey, you can at least wait until I get to the other side of the gym before you start working out with the same weight I use. I’m almost 30 years younger than you.’”
Dressed in a red-and-gold U.S. Marine Corps, logo polo shirt and a navy blue-and-gold trimmed ball cap that had the slogan, “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” stitched to the front of it, Verdin talked about why he joined the service and how important it was to him.
“I went in right after Pearl Harbor was attacked. I was 23,” he said. “That attack just stuck with me. I couldn’t get it off my mind.”
Verdin said he was assigned to the U.S. 2nd Marine Div., an amphibious assault group of 20,000 men who fought in the Pacific Theater of Operations from November 1943 through February 1944 during World War II. He fought his battles more specifically on the Marshall Islands were the Japanese formed their outer perimeter in the Pacific.
After the War, Verdin went to work for Loffland Brothers Drilling, an oil drilling company.
“I worked all over the place for them,” he said. “I went on jobs in Mississippi, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to name a few.”
But, he admitted, there was one place that stayed in his memory more than most.
“I was sent to Cuba right during the time [Fidel] Castro was fighting against (Fulgencio) Batista (Cuban Revolution 1953-59) for control of the island,” Verdin said. “I had these guys working on my crew who wore long machete knives that hung from their belts almost to the ground, and I wasn’t even allowed to carry a small, little pocket knife.”In was on a job in Texas that Verdin met his wife, Oleta.The two typically worked out together until her recent knee surgery that has sidelined her for a while, but she insisted that she’d be back.
The couple raised five children (four boys and a girl). Of them, three sons enlisted in the military – one in the U.S. Army, one in the U.S. Navy and the other in the U.S. Air Force.
By 73, Verdin retired from the drilling company nearly 20 years ago.
To stay busy, he started doing odd jobs for Monsanto and the New Orleans Water Board.
But no matter the work, Verdin continued working out.Sianna Bennett, a group fitness manager and professional trainer with Anytime Fitness, said Verdin has been a longtime regular.
“Mr. Ellis has been coming in here for years,” Bennett said. “He’s always her first thing in the morning and he doesn’t allow anything to get into the way of his workouts.”
Bennett said it’s so impressive considering his age, particularly the ability to lift the 20-pound bar bells he does.
Considering all the joints of his wrists, elbows and fingers it takes to do that much weight, (that younger people take for granted), it’s pretty impressive. After all balance, flexibility and muscle mass are the first things to go. Those things are so important for everyday functioning strength.
“We have a saying around here,” Bennett said. “If you don’t use it, you lose it. So, I’d say Mr. Ellis is way ahead of the game.”
Bennett also said he is so respected and loved at the gym. “It’s like a family around here,” she said. “If he were not to show up for a couple days, it would certainly be noticed. A couple more days on top of that and there would be a lot of people making phone calls to see if he was alright.”
The gym isn’t the only place Verdin applies some muscle.He also still finds time to cut the grass every Thursday, even though it might take seven hours to get it done.And on days he doesn’t work out or cut the grass or work on some side project, he attends church at the West St. Charles Baptist Church where he’s gone all his life.
For Verdin, life is still lived by Marine Corps. code – he’s in bed every night around 9:30 p.m., up every day by 5 a.m., stays in shape and works around the house.
He even has a Marine Corps. license plate on the front of his red pickup truck. Also, with all the friends and fans that trail his movements, finding inspiration in his lifestyle and choices, it’s easy to see why he sticks to his Marine roots and his division’s motto of “Follow me.” Verdin revealed a secret about the Marines.
“To be in the Marines you have to join. They don’t draft anyone and I’m proud of that.”
All this 93-year-old has going on stays in focus with his strong belief that he has to keep on moving. And he does.
“What else am I going to do?” Verdin said. “I’m not one to watch TV.”
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