By Cameron Carr
Mayor Stage and Ardit met while working in the banking industry decades ago.
The Key to Living Centenarian, Veteran calls Grove City home
W
hen Lou Ardit first moved to Grove City, he estimates the local population was around 2,500 people. That was 1957. More than half a century later, a lot has changed, but Ardit still calls Grove City home. Ardit, a veteran of World War II who will celebrate his 102nd birthday this year, has a unique historical perspective on the city and life in general – even some advice for living long. “Top-shelf booze, not the bottom shelf,” he says. “I don’t know, it works.” He credits good luck with helping him return from war and live such a long life. His son, David, still lives in Grove City as well, and Ardit has grandchildren and great-grandchildren spread beyond the city. 8 May/June 2022
When Ardit first moved to Grove City, friends struggled to understand why he and his wife, Martha, would want to live in the area. “When we moved here, it was like the end of the world,” he says. It was a much different city at the time, though. Ardit recalls the streetcar track that ran through the city roads. He also recalls looking out behind his house on Homecomer Drive and seeing nothing but open fields. Those fields have now become the Jackson Homes neighborhood as part of decades of development. “This is where I could afford,” Ardit says. “I’m very happy with it. I feel fortunate that I was able to find a nice home.” Born on July 5, 1920, and raised in Grandview, Ardit found himself traveling far beyond Ohio during World War II.
With the Army, Ardit deployed to France, eventually finding himself at Camp Lucky Strike in the country’s northern region. As a private, he worked as a battery clerk up front with the weaponry, a vulnerable position. By chance, the misbehavior of a corporal above him led Ardit to a rank and position promotion. “I look back on it and I think – I know – it saved my life,” he says. “We lost some men. I don’t know how many.” He still has his uniform, including the two-stripe corporal badge. After the war, both of his parents having passed away, Ardit took a single room at the YMCA until he met his wife. Really, he and Martha were re-meeting – the two went to school together since the third grade, Ardit says, in a building near what is now Grandview’s Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary. www.DiscoverGroveCity.com
Photo courtesy of the City of Grove City
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