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A century of life
It's a routine Tuesday at Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. A man stands in line. He has flawless posture and is impeccably dressed. He banters with the workers while they renew his driver's license. It's a mandatory errand a few days before his birthday. On that Sunday, Solomon ``Sol'' Bosin would turn 100. Besides driving, Bosin is a voracious reader of everything from ``Scientific American'' to ``Tikkun,'' and an excellent cook. Witty and serene, he exercises daily and loves to discuss science and politics. He does volunteer contractual work for the Arlington County Department of Social Services. Although he retired from his career as a supermarket meat manager when he was in his 80s, he helped one of his daughters, Sylvia Yaffee, a principal and teacher, grade papers until she not he retired last year. Sol keeps busy with family connections and is a member of Arlington-Fairfax Jewish Congregation. A resident of Arlington, Va. since 1941, Sol Bosin primarily uses his 1992 Plymouth for shopping and to visit another of his daughters, Doris Bosin, who resides in a nursing home near his house. His active life and calm demeanor belie the fact that Bosin has weathered medical problems, including a severe heart attack and recent cataract surgery. Sol Bosin grew up riding horses, in a world that had yet to see an automobile, let alone an airplane. In 1907, at age 10, he immigrated with his mother and two brothers to Hartford, Conn., from Russia. They joined his father, Lipman Bosin, who had immigrated two years earlier and had opened a kosher meat slaughtering business. Sol learned this trade from his father. As was the tradition for young Jewish boys in Russia, Sol had gone through years of extensive six-days-a-week, dawn-to-dusk training in Hebraic history, teachings and texts, but he had not been exposed to other academic subjects when he arrived in the United States. Although he was unable to speak English when he arrived, Sol soon mastered the language and was immediately promoted two grades in school. In his teens, he worked for the U.S. Army, hauling military supplies in a truck. The family moved to the Washington area in 1916. By then, Bosin had three brothers and two sisters, but his father had died. His mother, Rose, an accomplished seamstress, opened a grocery store behind their small house on Callan Street in Northeast Washington, D.C. Seven years later, Bosin wed Rose Zelda Segal of Washington, whose father was a founding member of Congregation Kesher Israel in Georgetown. They had five children, and were married 68 years until her death in 1995. Sol and Rose Bosin operated a grocery store in Northeast Washington. In the mid-1930s, Sol Bosin became a meat manager for the District Grocery Store chain, owned by his cousin, Frank Seidel. In 1939, Seidel opened Leland Market in Arlington, Va., the first service grocery story in the D.C. area. Bosin joined him two years later, becoming the meat manager in the new store and moving his family to Arlington. Later, he was the meat manager for another store in Alexandria until his retirement. Bosin keeps close contact with two of his siblings, Vivian Bambergers of Chevy Chase, Md., and Harry Bosin of Langley Park, Md. Sol Bosin has two sons: Leonard Bosin, a retired electronic engineer who resides with his wife, Goldie, in Leisure World in Silver Spring, Md., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Dr. Morris Bosin, a program and policy manager for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who lives with his wife, Jo An, in Annandale, Va. His three daughters are Doris Bosin of Arlington; Sylvia Yaffee who resides with her husband, Theodore, in Potomac, Md.; and Bernice Cohen, R.N., who resides with her husband, Herbert, in Bowie, Md. Counting spouses, Bosin's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren number 39, and they all live in the metropolitan Washington area. His youngest great-grandchild, Samuel Alexander Friedman, is a century his junior. Sol Bosin celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends last
Sunday at a brunch at Arlington-Fairfax Jewish Congregation.
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