Robley Rex, as far as we know, hasn’t discovered the fountain of youth, but with his sparkling eyes, ready smile and big blue bow tie, this 104-year-old Louisvillian exudes the essence of adolescent enthusiasm. Anyone who has lived through more than a century of life’s ups and downs deserves a rest, but Rex continues working as a three-day-a-week volunteer at Louisville’s VA Medical Center and as chaplain of Okolona’s VFW post and attendee of every post meeting.?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" >
Bearing titles of “Colonel,” “Reverend” and “Chaplain,” Rex has been working with soldiers and veterans in one capacity or another since World War I.
In fact, local Veterans Administration officials say he’s the only living World War I veteran in the state of Kentucky, and one of about 200 in the United States.
He began volunteering at the VA in 1986 and since then has logged nearly 14,000 hours of service. It’s a duty Rex takes very seriously: “Some big shot showed up here one day and said, ‘What do you do?’” he recalls. “I said, ‘Whatever I’m told to do.’”
Born on May 2, 1901, Rex moved to Louisville from his native Hopkinsville in 1930. Although he’s lived here for 76 years, Rex hasn’t yet made an appearance at Louisville’s best-known event, the Kentucky Derby. “Never,” he says with a light chuckle. “I have no desire whatever to see it.”
Horse racing may not capture his imagination, but one thing did for 68 years of his life — his beloved wife, Grace. Of all the historically important decades Rex has witnessed, he asserts that his favorites were the years of his marriage: “The time I was married was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. My wife was the smartest woman in the world,” he says, beaming with pride.
They met at Camp Taylor while Rex was young and freshly enlisted in the Army and Grace was an entertainer for the troops. He was sent overseas during the war and returned in 1922. “When I came back, why, she was still single!” he recalls, seemingly still astonished by his good fortune. They married in 1924 and remained together until she died in 1992.
While being a centenarian may entitle Rex to a measure of celebrity, he remains humble and happy to live his life serving others. “Well,” he says with boyish gusto, “I just enjoy being here, honey!
—Katie Brown
