Stephen Eldridge “Joe” Brown has earned a lot of nicknames during the century he’s been on Earth, but the one that’s stuck is the simplest, most loving one—“Pop.”

The Gloucester resident celebrated his 100th birthday on July 13 with a slew of friends, neighbors and family who all call him by that name. Later, he shared a few memories with the Gazette-Journal.

Born in 1914 in his family’s home near the intersection of Indian and Crab Thicket roads in Gloucester, Brown spent most of his childhood in Newport News. But in 1921, his father, an agent for Metropolitan Insurance, was briefly transferred to Gloucester, and Joe put down roots that brought him back to the county later in life.

Joe remembers living in a house on the Court Circle and going to Tucker’s Five and Dime, the Bank of Gloucester, and Dr. Morgan’s new drug store on Main Street. Sometimes his dad would take him to Eddie Brown’s store at Schley, and if he h...