It’s not Bill, as he was born in 1923 and is just over the century mark. It’s his daughter, Barbara!

How can that be?

Barbara was five years old and had finished Kindergarten when we moved to Texas in August 1966. Mom and Dad went over to Seabrook Elementary School¹ to register Babs for First Grade. They brought along her birth certificate showing she had been born in November 1960. The school turned them away, saying Barbara was too young for first grade

In Texas, students had be be six years old by September 1, whereas New York required students to turn six by December 1. Barbara’s birthday fell in between.

Bill was absolutely livid — he wasn’t going to have his daughter repeat Kindergarten — in Texas of all places! And he told Grumman that he would have to move the family right back to New York. Fortunately, Grumman had a “fixer,” an Italian fellow whose name is lost to history, but assured Bill that he would take care of things.

Sure enough, a birth certificate appeared showing Barbara had actually been born August 18, 1960, just in time to enter first grade. Crisis averted.

What’s most striking in retrospect is that he put his job on the line — a high profile job with national importance — in service of his daughter’s education.

So here in 2026, Barbara is actually 65 years old, but has had 125 birthdays, including the 60 she has had since her fake birth certificate appeared

Here’s to having an older sister!

1. Seabrook Elementary was renamed Ed White Elementary School after the astronaut who died in the Apollo 101 fire. The school appears in some scenes of Richard Linklater’s movie Apollo 10 1/2 ↩︎