Dr. Michael G. Marra age, 101 passed away on Friday, February 9, 2018 at Westfields Hospital in New Richmond, Wisconsin.

The following article was a 1-1 interview with Doc Marra just shy of his 100 ^th birthday that the family thoroughly enjoyed.

It's been more than 70 years since he's lived in Brooklyn, New York, and Doc Marra still can't shake that accent.

Anyone who grew up in Amery in the 50s, 60s or 70s might remember that voice from Amery Clinic. Doc Marra was a fixture there, performing everything from deliveries & tonsillectomies to routine office visits. Today, Doc Marra is not only alive-, but well. And living independently at Evergreen Village, #214.

He's 99 years old.

Marra grew up in New York City, born in Manhattan on January 8, 1917. His father, a Sicilian immigrant, passed away when Mike was just a toddler, prompting his mother to move Mike and his three-year old brother to Brooklyn to live with his grandparents.

Only Italian was spoken in that home. In fact, Mike didn't learn English until he went to grade school.

Marra's upbringing in the New York boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens couldn't have been more different than that of Amery or the Midwest. His playground was the streets. Communities were multi-racial. High schools had thousands of students. And his prom was held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan. He attended the City College of New York (CCNY) and majored in Pre-Med.

After enjoying life in Amery for so many years, Marra looks back on that pace differently now.

"You know, when you live in a big city all your life, traveling the subways, taking an hour and a half to get to college at CCNY, an hour and a half to get home in Queens…I hated it!"

Marra graduated from college during the Great Depression. One of the only jobs he could find was in Washington D.C. Even though he'd be working for the Census Bureau and not a hospital, there was a silver lining. It was there he would meet a young lady from Mondovi, Wisconsin. Kay was her name, and she worked for the State Department.

Kay and Mike were married in September of 1942, shortly after Mike enlisted in the Navy, where he would acquire much of his medical training. He later attended the University of Vermont on the GI Bill, and looked toward Kay's hometown of Mondovi when it came time to complete his internship.

By that time, Kay and Mike had two young sons, and with Kay's folks just a short drive away, Luther Hospital in Eau Claire was the perfect fit.

Marra recalls there was a doctor in Amery named K.K. Ford that had his eye on him. "He kept calling, 'When are you coming? When are you coming,?' And I said 'Well, I have to finish my internship first.'"

Marra interviewed with Dr. Waterman, who was slowing down his practice after sustaining a heart attack. It seemed Waterman had plans to return to work, and was skeptical of this young kid from New York.

"He said, 'What in the hell is a New Yorker doing in a small town like this!?,'" recalls Marra.

Dr. Waterman would pass away from a second heart attack not too long after, leaving Amery with Dr. K.K. Ford and Doc Marra.

Marra would spend the next thirty years serving the Amery community, and eventually retired in 1979.

Mike and Kay were married for 62 years until her passing in 2004.

He moved to Evergreen in 2005, more than 11 years ago, and is as busy and sharp as ever. He regularly walked 2-3 miles a day up until a few years ago. He tinkers with electronics from time to time. And he still completes the crossword puzzle every day, but concedes to getting a little help in that task. "Sometimes I get stuck and have to use the computer," he admits.

That's right. This 99-year old can find his way around the Internet just fine. In fact, it was the Internet that brought us to him, by way of Loren Elkin's weekly email.

So, from the doctor who's lived as long as any of us could hope to, what IS the secret to longevity? He's quick to say that small-town living has made a big difference. He's loved it here. But Doc, really, what is the secret? Helping others? Regular exercise? Vegetables? Grandchildren? He's got two of those, one is a doctor herself.

"Being interested in things," he says. "That's all." And through a big New York grin he adds, "Never…give…up!"

Funeral Services are pending with the Williamson~White Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 222 Harriman Avenue North Amery, Wisconsin.