Cunny says exercise is ‘extra ingredient’ at 100th birthday party

Bob Cunny is a testament that exercise keeps you fit and healthy. On Monday, the Vicksburg resident celebrated his 100 th birthday surrounded by friends and family at the Junius Ward Johnson Memorial YMCA, where he still works out regularly.

“We have all been taught what to do to keep healthy — eat right and sleep right and all that stuff — but nobody says exercise every day. But I think that’s the extra ingredient,” Cunny said, of living to become a centenarian.

He also gave credit to the YMCA for efforts to offer programs geared toward physical activity.

“I think the Y program is for me,” Cunny said.

In addition to walking every day, Mindy Giambrone, who serves as the Active Y adult director recalled starting a class in 1996 in which Cunny participated.

“Bob and my daddy were the first two members to come to my class,” Giambrone said.

In the almost 20 years since the class began, Giambrone said instructors have changed, (Giambrone is now back teaching) but Cunny has been a constant.

Born in Chicago, Cunny moved to Vicksburg in 1948 and went to work for the Waterways Experiment Station. He served in both WWII and the Korean War, as a 2 nd lieutenant and U.S. Army captain, respectively. He married the late Nell Pinkston in 1960 and the couple had two daughters, Helen and Kelly Cunny.

Helen Cunny, who now lives in North Carolina, said as a young girl she can remember her father’s commitment to exercise.

“When I was growing up, he literally exercised every day before work,” she said.

And if not exercising at home, he was sure to be found at the Y, she said.

Living in Austin, Texas now, Kelly Cunny said her father’s roots go way back with the YMCA.

“In the 1960’s he was part of the Y’s Men’s,” she said.

Cunny served as its president as well as with various other organizations including the Southwest Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Vicksburg Lions Club, and the Community Concert Association, which was an organization that promoted musical events for the city. Cunny was also a licensed Vicksburg National Military Park guide and is a longtime member of First Presbyterian Church, where he is an elder.

Giambrone said Cunny is what everyone aspires to be as they age.

“We all want to be healthy and sharp,” she said.

In addition to providing resources for physical activity, the YMCA also offers a social atmosphere, which Giambrone said is another important aspect to living a long, healthy life.

“You wouldn’t believe how many 70, 80 and 90-year-old birthdays we have celebrated since I started working here,” Giambrone said. “We’ve got our own Blue Zone starting right here.”

Blue Zones, Giambrone said, “are where the majority of the people in the town live to be 100 years old. So, we are starting our own Blue Zone right here and Bob is our captain. He is leading us into this.”