Harvey Bishop lives in Whatcom County now, but he was born at St. John’s Hospital in Port Townsend on Aug. 27, 1924, making him 100 years old.

Harvey decided to celebrate his birthday a couple of days early, on Saturday, Aug. 24, and he had plenty of family members to help him celebrate, since he’s still married to his wife of 63 years, the 86-year-old Elizabeth Bishop, and he has two daughters, Karen Bishop and Susan Anastasiadis, the latter of whom is the mother to his two grandchildren, aged 14 and 9.

Harvey came from the Bishop family mentioned in Betty MacDonald’s “The Egg and I.”

Although he left town when he graduated from Port Townsend High School’s Class of 1942, he’s been no stranger to the area since then, given that his sister lived in Chimacum and had four daughters, and he developed land in town that once belonged to his father, after his family donated what became Bishop Park to the city.

“We’ve continued to come across the ferry every once in a while, to do things like go clam-digging with our family in the area,” Harvey said.

Harvey recalls his father’s construction work contributing to the creation of not only the Cotton Building in downtown Port Townsend, but also the mill for the Port Townsend Paper Co.

Harvey himself still remembers when Fort Worden was an active-duty U.S. Army base, before 1953, while his own college career at the University of Washington was interrupted only a year in by being drafted into World War II.

Harvey served as a B-24 gunner in the U.S. Army Air Forces, as part of the 38th Bombardment Squadron of the 30th Bombardment Group in the Pacific Theater, which helped delay his college graduation until 1952, but this tour of duty was far from his only overseas excursion.

Harvey’s degree in mechanical engineering, followed by his licensing in mechanical engineering and design, opened the doors for his career in the oil industry, which took him up and down the West Coast, and as far afield as Alaska, Greenland, and yes, even a return to the South Pacific, before he spent 12 and a half years working in Saudi Arabia.

Harvey counted his stint at the Saudi Arabian state-owned petroleum company, Aramco, as among the most enjoyable in his career, although Karen hastened to credit him with helping to build one of the oil refineries in Whatcom County, as well.

Although Harvey retired from Aramco in 1983, he remained active, not only in developing Port Townsend property, but also in joining the Big Brothers program in 1988, which led him to mentor two boys, before he managed to graduate from a computer course at Whatcom Community College in 2004, at the age of 80.

When asked the secret to his longevity, Harvey joked, “I just keep getting out of bed every day,” before he credited a healthy diet and an active lifestyle with keeping him fit.

“I enjoy hearty meals, but I avoid junk food,” Harvey Bishop said. “I also don’t drink, because I’ve worked in places where alcohol was restricted, and ever since I took a swimming class at UW, I’ve loved swimming as a form of exercise, along with walking.”