MINERAL RIDGE — World War II Navy veteran Max Mohorick said turning 100 is not that big of a deal to him, but having served his country is.

Immediate family and friends gathered Sunday at Mohorick’s Mineral Ridge home for a cookout birthday celebration. Mohorick turns 100 today.

“That’s not that big of a deal,” he said, crediting his longevity to good genes, eating properly, not smoking and having a good attitude.

“I don’t make a big thing out of longevity. When God tells me it is time to go, I will accept it,” he said.

Mark Mohorick, Max Mohorick’s only child, said good genes run in his father’s family as an older brother, Matt, who flew B-17 bombers for 33 missions while serving in the military lived to 94 and older sister Mary lived to 92.

He said his father’s youngest brother, Henry, was a Marine killed at Iowa Jima before he turned 21.

Max Mohorick said most of his friends have passed away with one friend attending St. Mary Church in Mineral Ridge. Mohorick attends Mass there when he is able.

“It is hard for my dad to get out,” Mark Mohorick said.

While serving in the Navy as a gunner’s mate second class, Mohorick was an armed guard on a ship in the North Sea.

“My entire family has always been patriotic. My older brother Matt was the one who started this being the first to go into the service,” he said.

In fact, the three brothers before they turned 18 were all involved with the Civil Conservation Corps, which was for boys during the Great Depression who went and planted trees, cut trees and helped build bridges.

“It was the like the Army Corps of Engineers. They were teens who didn’t mind working and got paid and could send the money to their parents,” Mark Mohorick said.

family lost their father, Matthew, when he was killed while working on the railroad.

“My dad passed away when I was 9 years old,” he said.

Born in West Virginia, Mohorick and his family moved to the North Side of Youngstown when he was 11 and then he later moved to Niles and then Mineral Ridge.

Mark Mohorick said while he and other family members feel it is monumental for his dad to be 100, his father does not want people making a fuss about it.

Julia Perkins, a granddaughter, said she is thrilled her three sons are able to be around their great-grandfather.

“It is incredible he is here. He has a great memory. I am so glad he is able to be with my children and tell them stories and share things with them,” she said.

Perkins and her husband, Courtenay, who was in the military and is now a police sergeant in Stow, said they were glad to be at the party and created a special timeline to mark Mohorick’s life and what other events were taking place from 1920 to the present.

“He is able to see the children growing up. We are so glad he has a connection with them,” Perkins said.

For the party, photos and other memorabilia were displayed including a June 6, 1942, newspaper photo of Mohorick and other young men in downtown Youngstown joining the military.

“That was when I enlisted in the military. It was six months after Pearl Harbor and we were all standing in the street in downtown Youngstown,” he said.

Mohorick served in the Navy from 1942 to 1945 and was in the North Sea and remembers the times he dealt with the Russians.

“I remember when we were in the North Sea we were confronted by the Russian dive bombers. That was a scary time,” he said.

His time in the Navy took him to above the Arctic Circle to below the equator.

Mohorick’s first wife, Julia, died at age 60 in 1978 with the two married for 24 years. His second wife, Grace, whom he married in 1986, died after 24 years of marriage.

Mohorick worked for Brainard Strapping, a division of Sharon Steel.

Mark Mohorick said the military display was a way to remember all those who served, including his dad.

“My dad and my uncles and all the others who served brought peace and prosperity to this country with their service. We would not have the freedoms we have today if it wasn’t for their sacrifices. My uncle Henry was killed in the war; I would have liked to have met him. My father has told me all about his brothers,” Mark Mohorick said.

Mohorick’s grandson, Daniel, has been in the Navy for 19 years and is stationed in South Carolina. His granddaughter Julia’s husband served six years in the Air Force.