Prosper Anselm will celebrate his 100th birthday on July 7, 2025.
Prosper Anselm, a resident of Sunset Cove, will turn 100 on July 7, 2025. This rare milestone is celebrated with much recognition and honor. Prosper’s experiences have given him a front seat to many historical events. His life symbolizes opportunity, history, love, and change.
Prosper was born in Fez, Morocco, and as a youth loved to play soccer. He played all his young life and was always following his favorite teams. He still follows those teams even though he no longer plays.
In 1942, at age 17, he was a civilian employee with the U.S. Navy at Rabat, Morocco, where he worked in the kitchen for the officers and pilots. There, a French chef taught him the basics and instilled in him a desire to become a chef. In 1948 he immigrated to Israel and joined the Israeli Army where he trained as a paratrooper and saw action several times.
After the war he went to France where he helped orphans from World War II immigrate to Israel. The children were very important to him and being fluent in three languages – French, English and Hebrew – helped him navigate the maze of post-war Europe.
In Israel he met his future bride Irene at the USO and returned to marry her in 1950. They have one son, Edward, born in 1953, who lives at Ariel in The Landings. In 1959, the three of them immigrated to the United States. They moved to Forest Hills, NY, a desirable neighborhood located in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City. The family lived there for 60 years. Irene passed away in 2008 after 58 years of marriage.
Prosper became a chef and worked in numerous restaurants in New York City beginning in 1959. He became a member of Chefs de Cuisine Association of America in 1992. He spent the last 18 years of his working career helping Montefiore Medical Center, a highly regarded academic health system, dramatically improve the quality of food served there.
In 1998, Prosper went to Israel for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the state. He was awarded “A Builder of Israel,” for his distinguished military service. In his 50s he started running and completed four New York City marathons in his 60s.
In 2019 Prosper and his son Ed came for two months to The Landings. Prosper met a woman named Sharion Boyd at a Jewish Federation luncheon here in Florida but did not see her again until 2020. Ed bought a condo in Ariel and decided they would stay here during the pandemic. Prosper and Sharion married on March 18, 2020 after getting to know each other through similar life experiences, emotional connection, and shared values. They have lived here permanently for five years.
You can find Prosper and Sharion most mornings in The Landings gym working on physical strength and setting an example of hard work and love to all that meet them. Prosper is a rare kind of light: humble, kind, strong, and honorable. If you see him wish him a Happy 100th year!
