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t m c » p u l s e | s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9 22 A t 98, Joseph Colwell—known to everyone as Pappy—claims to be the oldest living World War II Marine in the Houston area. "Probably in all of Texas," Colwell ventured. Colwell has three children and four grandchildren. His beloved wife, Frances, died in 2008. When people find out he is almost 100, the first question they ask is: What do you eat? "I tell them, and I'm serious, I eat everything that's bad for you and noth- ing that's good for you," Colwell said. He favors meat and potatoes, reaching for Cheez-It crackers and potato chips when he's watching a baseball or football game on TV. Coffee ice cream is also part of his personal food pyramid. "I used to put three or four scoops in a bowl every single night," Colwell said. "I quit doing that maybe a year ago. I eat it right out of the bucket now. I'm not going to dirty a dish." Colwell is living with his second pacemaker, implanted about three years ago. The first one lasted seven years and was implanted after he ended up in the emergency room with a heart racing so fast it woke him from a sound sleep. He is so used to the pacemaker, he just forgets it's there. Seven years ago, Colwell sustained a brain injury. He tumbled off a bar stool at his son's beach house in Corpus Christi and hit his head. At first he seemed fine, but about a week later he started leaning to one side and having difficulty walking. His family rushed him to the emergency room. Colwell ended up undergoing brain surgery at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center. His doctor said his brain had actually shifted to the side in his skull. Surgeons went in and drained blood and fluid. "I've got an indentation where they drilled into my skull," Colwell said. "The doctor said it was a good thing I was as old as I was. He said in older people the brain has a little room to move—it's got more space. He said if I had been a younger guy, in my 50s or so, I'd have been dead." Originally from Hudson, New York, Colwell moved his family to Houston in 1957. He got a job delivering mail for the post office, then went on to became a foreman. When he retired, he was superintendent of route inspectors. Colwell lives on his own and sees his children and grandchildren often. But he's honest about the frustrations of day-to-day life as a near-centenarian. "One of my former favorite pastimes was golf," he said. "Can't play golf now. The knees the way they are, I couldn't do it. So I have no hobbies to speak of. And it's very frustrating. … I'll get up and I'll think, so this is life. I'm going to get my breakfast, worry about what I'm going to fix for lunch. There are no ball games on tonight ... and what am I going to do tomorrow?" So he stays busy. He works out four days a week, driving himself to the gym in his 2014 Mustang GT. He does the same workout each day: treadmill for 30 minutes and then dumbbells, arm weights and the stomach machine for another 30. "Working out has gotten to be like an addiction," Colwell said. "I have to go. And I know there are quite a few people over at the gym that go because they find out how old I am and they'll think, 'Well, if he can do it, I can do it.' I'll wake up and I'll think, 'I don't want to go to the gym today.' Then I'll think, 'Well, so-and-so's there because I come there. Gotta go. Gotta go.'" — Maggie Galehouse Joseph "Pappy" Colwell, 98 WATCH A VIDEO FEATURING COLWELL AT TMCNEWS.ORG