PHIL STALLYBRASS of Garden Grove opens a Christmas present for his great-grandson, Jameson Pytlik. Emma Pytlik (center-right) and great-granddaughter McKinley Pytlik (far right) are watching.

By Brian Guevara/Orange County Tribune

Seven-year-old Phil Stallybrass and his two sisters were hiding in their government-provided bunker in England with nothing but a candle and a cigarette their mother gave them to ease the nerves. They were used to it at this point, the daily bombings by the Nazis. It was World War II and The Blitz was in full swing.

*Whoosh* there goes the flame on their only candle.

“I would curl up into a little tiny ball because in my mind [the bombers] would know exactly where I was at,” said Stallybrass. This is rock bottom, in the dawn of his life.

After World War II finally ended, Stallybrass’ family left him on his own, sending him into a two year-long stint of homelessness as a teenager.

Fast forward through some military service, years at sea and one power plant construction later, and he is 92, with a loving family of four generations. He not only survived all of the hardship, but he thrived in the face of adversity. But that’s who he is: a survivor.

“If something comes up, I’m going to find any way possible to survive it,” said Stallybrass.
Zack Barrett, his neighbor of 40 years, agrees..

“He would catch flying fish, taxidermy them, and sell them once he got back to shore,” said Barrett. “He’s a survivalist.”

He has been an active and loving member of his family for so long that his grandson Tyler Pytlik calls him a “titan.”

“He’s had a wild life… for him to be here right now is nothing short of a miracle,” said 33-year old Tyler.
But somehow, the most impressive part about him isn’t the fact that he’s lived 92 years. It’s the fact that he has done so with a full and open heart, even though the world has given every reason not to.

When looking at everything he has done, it’s hard to choose just one thing that could be considered the highlight of his life.

But for him, it’s easy: the Niagara Falls Power Project.
The largest power generating plant at the time, this was a project spanning multiple years that was fulfilling for Stallybrass, but also extremely dangerous. The fact he did this is one of the things he’s most proud of.
“I was hanging from the cliff drilling into a wall holding a 100lb. jackhammer… I fell 90 ft., and the rope finally grabbed,” recalled Stallybrass. “The foreman saved me, pulled a bottle out of his pocket and offered it to me, then told me to get my ass back up there… but I wasn’t hurt so that was a good deal!”

After the power project was completed, Stallybrass decided to do something people only bluff about: blindly place a pin on a map to decide where he would spend the next part of his life.

That pin landed in Orange County.

Since 1962, he has been a model neighbor, father and grandfather, and a significant member of the Garden Grove community.

Nowadays, Stallybrass spends his time crafting model ships (which he’s been doing for decades), maintaining his house, and taking care of everyone around him.

Keep in mind, this is a man in his nineties doing all that.

Summed up, Phil’s life so far has been nothing short of a testament to the human spirit. He feels it doesn’t matter what’s happened to you, because you always have the next day. It’s always up to you to treat the world with unconditional love. Many people would strive to live the life Phil Stallybrass has led.