World War II veteran turns 98, La Salle VA clinic throws surprise party for Paw Paw man

Ervin Safranek, a Paw Paw resident and World War II Navy veteran, turned 98 on Thursday.

The staff at the La Salle Veterans Affairs clinic, which provides a wide variety of health services for veterans, heard Safranek was coming in on his birthday for a primary care checkup visit and decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. Workers at the clinic decorated and bought cupcakes and candles to celebrate. About 20 staff members sang to Safranek and wished him a happy birthday.

The group spent some time talking, and Safranek made them laugh constantly with his jokes and sharp wit. He said he’s lucky to be so healthy, and said he doesn’t feel like he’s 98. He’s sharp, likes cracking jokes, moves around independently and still drives – he estimated about 20,000 miles a year.

Safranek was drafted into World War II when he was 18. He was given the choice between the Navy or the Army, a choice he said he was lucky to get, saying, “I wanted nothing to do with the Army because I didn’t want to wear a tie.”

He was stationed in the North Atlantic on a supply ship. The supply ships traveled in convoys, saw some war and lost some ships. The supply ship he was on had guns, but they were for protection and defense.

Safranek said he’s seen many different parts of the world, including Africa and parts of Italy, while hauling supplies. After that, he went to the West Coast for special command training and was put in charge of the hospital unit on Okinawa.

“I was just doing what I had to and my duty to fight for my country.”

—  Ervin Safranek, World War II veteran

He said World War II was different than any other war Americans have experienced because it involved everyone. Women joined the workforce for the first time, and citizens had rations. He said the draft, however, was something he expected.

“I was just doing what I had to and my duty to fight for my country,” Safranek said.

After the war ended, Safranek was stationed on a destroyer until he was discharged. He then returned home to Paw Paw, where his father made him a partner at his grocery store. Safranek later took out a loan and built his own supermarket.

“I worked hard all my life and spent a lot of hours in my store,” he said.

In 2000, he sold the supermarket, and now it’s called the Paw Paw Fresh Market.

For the past 93 years of his life, Safranek has lived in Paw Paw. When he was 5 years old, he moved from Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Paw Paw with his parents and has lived there ever since. Both his parents emigrated from Czechoslovakia, and Safranek said they had the equivalent of an eighth-grade education.

But his mother could speak English, Bohemian and German, which Safranek said came in handy because the population of Paw Paw at the time was largely German. When they moved to Paw Paw, Safranek said he remembered the main road in town was all mud and there were two hotels in town, one of which he stayed at when they first arrived.

Safranek has two sons, seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He’s involved in the Lions Club and is active in his church. Safranek said he enjoyed this birthday, but that he’s still “got to wait a couple of years for the big one,” when he’ll turn 100.