Celebrating a mentor in the greenhouse and in life

FREEHOLD — George Story celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by family and friends at the Freehold Firehouse on Saturday.

In a short speech, John Story described his father as a gentleman who “never spent a day without doing something he was passionate about.”

Story, standing nearby, said, “I’m learning a lot about myself.”

The party guests then sang “Happy Birthday” and the centenarian blew out the candles on his cake.

Story founded Story’s Nursery in Freehold and ran it for decades before handing over the reins to his business partner Ken Thompson in 2000.

He lived in his childhood home in Freehold until recently, when he moved to Ghent to live with his daughter Pam DeGeyter.

Many members of Story’s family were in attendance to fete his long life. Story has seven children, 17 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Story is well-known around Greene County for his kind demeanor and careful attention to plants, said many community members attending the party.

Linda Novak, of East Durham, worked at Story’s Nursery for five years. “I didn’t know a lot about plants, but they trained me,” she said.

“It’s amazing that one man could know so much.”

The Story family displayed a collection of photographs, newspaper clippings and notebooks. One notebook lay open to a page from April 1947, when Story recorded transplanting Calwonder peppers, Geneva tomatoes and Savoy cabbages.

Looking over the display, R.J. Schmollinger, of Freehold, said he had known Story his entire life but never realized how hard Story worked. “That’s what strikes me. It doesn’t seem like it was work,” Schmollinger said.

Story approached life with a commitment to serving his community, said members of the Greenville Masonic Lodge.

Story was a member of the Masons for 75 years, said Masonic Lodge Master Luman Chichester, of Medusa.

“He is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. He’s taught all the brothers the things he’s learned in the greenhouse, and in life,” Chichester said. “I’ve never seen him upset, he’s always happy.”

“He was very supportive of the other brothers,” said Kenny Siegel of Greenville. “Always a joy to see at the meetings.”

Of Story’s 75-year membership in the Masons, Charles Sands, of Catskill, said, “He’s a faithful member, one of the backbones of the community for years.”

Mason Bob Tauckus, of Greenville, remembered Story in lighter moments, listening to music at Gavin’s Irish Country Inn. He said Story and his late wife Marsha especially loved listening to Irish tenor Andy Cooney.

The Freehold Firehouse was an apt venue for the party, as it was formerly a one-room schoolhouse where Story studied as a boy.