SUN CHRONICLE STAFF

FOXBORO - Robert A. Girardin of Chestnut Street, who is serving his 43rd consecutive year on the Southeastern Regional School Committee, will turn 99 years old on Feb. 18.

If you see him around town, be sure to wish him a happy birthday. And congratulations on a special honor: The Robert A. Girardin District Office Building on the campus in Easton is scheduled to be occupied and opened this month, according to spokesman John Creed.

"It's quite an honor. It's better than a tombstone" Girardin quipped in an interview. "We've been trying to get that building for over 25 years."

The Girardin building was constructed by students attending the school. Asked the secret of his long and vibrant life, Girardin said,

"I think it's because I had a wonderful wife. She kept me right on my toes. A wonderful, wonderful woman. I certainly hated to lose her."

Andrea (Bouchard) Girardin died Dec. 27, 1999, at age 85. The couple has a daughter, Anne Carolyn Flood of Canton.

A retired Foxboro teacher and administrator, Girardin said he always kept busy, both in the home and serving various organizations and committees.

He lives alone and tries to remain independent.

"I do my own cooking. I'm lucky to have as many friends as I do because I don't have a car," he said, adding that he stopped driving in 2005 but still has a license. "Sometimes my daughter will say OK you take the wheel when she takes me shopping."

He attends 7 a.m. Mass at St. Mary's Church with Lorraine and Lonnie MacMaster of Daniels Carpenter Court, and plans to mark his 99th birthday with a simple breakfast out with the MacMasters.

"He's a wonder, and very educated," Lorraine MacMaster said.

Girardin said he cooks the way his wife taught him, and does calisthenics, lifts light weights and walks about a mile a day, indoors or out.

The Southeastern Regional School District has about 1,350 students, including residents of Foxboro Mansfield and Norton. The district serves nine communities, including the city of Brockton. When Girardin's current four-year term on the regional school committee ends in November 2008 he will be 100 years old.