Menifee resident, WWII veteran Cormier turns 100

Bill Cormier and his wife Lois celebrated Bill's 100th birthday at a party on Sunday. (Photos by Doug Spoon)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Longtime Menifee resident and World War II veteran Bill Cormier was the special guest at a party Sunday in honor of his 100th birthday, which takes place Aug. 29.

The party reunited members of Cormier’s family and friends in the social hall of the WellQuest of Menifee Lakes Luxury Retirement Home, where Bill and his wife Lois live after spending several years in the Oasis Retirement Community. The room was decorated with balloons, a cake and refreshments, and a banner listing interesting facts from 1923 (a gallon of gas cost 22 cents).

Cormier has been featured in Menifee 24/7 before. A Feb. 11, 2020 news article described the documentary video in which Cormier discussed his four years of Naval service on the YMS 403, a mine sweeper that was one of many U.S. ships that disabled or destroyed 1,300 enemy mines in the Pacific Ocean.

Cormier was also honored in April 2022 when, after nearly 80 years, he received an honorary diploma from Methuen High School and a City of Methuen commendation from the state of Massachusetts.

“People keep asking me what a person has to do to get to 100,” Cormier said on Sunday. “There’s a lot of things you can do. But there’s one thing you can’t do – die.”