WORCESTER, Mass. — Bob Cousy never expected to live to 90 years old. In fact, nine years ago he had a friend compile a list of his accomplishments to use in his obituary.

“I didn’t think I’d make it through the 80s,” he admitted this week.

But on Thursday the Boston Celtics’ legend celebrated his 90th birthday by dining with his two daughters – Marie and Ticia – their husbands and a few friends. Cousy turned down an offer to have a larger celebration, so his friends plan instead to make a donation in his name to the Nativity School and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Cousy remains a living legend, with emphasis on both words.

“I do think he’s going to go way into his 90s,” Ticia said hopefully.

Long lives run in Cousy’s family. He has no siblings but his father, Joseph, lived until 88 and his mother, Juliette, died at 86.

LIVING THE QUIET LIFE

Cousy winters in Florida but spends at least half of the year in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he’s lived since he left Queens, New York, to attend Holy Cross, the college he helped win the 1947 NCAA championship as a freshman. He lives by himself, but friends look in on him and bring him meals at times.

Cousy still does his own grocery shopping at the nearby Shaw’s on West Boylston Street but ensures that people don’t recognize him by wearing a sweatsuit and hoodie. He’s also left alone when he sits in the back at Blessed Sacrament Church at the 8 a.m. Mass each Sunday. Getting away from the hubbub of Boston was what enticed him to remain in Worcester.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “I wanted my daughters to have a normal school experience without anyone saying, ‘Hey, you’re Bob Cousy’s daughter,’ and for the most part they lived unencumbered.”

Their lives were so unencumbered that the first time Marie and Ticia realized their father was famous was when they saw him guest star on the children’s TV show “Captain Kangaroo.”

“We were watching it and he waved to us,” Ticia said.

But Cousy didn’t go unnoticed when he attended a Johnny Mathis concert at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in June. Cousy has long known Mathis, who ran track in high school against Celtics legend Bill Russell, so Mathis introduced him to the crowd. Half a dozen older women rushed over to Cousy to kiss him on the forehead as he remained in his seat. Cousy was as courteous as ever, but Ticia had to politely ask the women to stop.

She proudly added, “Everybody who interacts with him leaves him feeling better about themselves because of their interaction with him. He’s just so gracious in the way he interacts with everybody and he has usually a funny line to say. And he was always an introvert growing up so it’s amazing how well he’s taken to celebrity.”

“It’s nice to be remembered fondly,” Cousy said, “whatever it is you do.”

THE SHARP MIND REMAINS

Over the last 10 years, Cousy hasn’t left the house as much and rarely answers his door or telephone. He’d rather read his books.

“But then the phone doesn’t ring,” he said, “and I start saying to myself, ‘Why the hell isn’t the phone ringing? Is the world forgetting about me? What the hell is going on?’ ”

Cousy underwent two back surgeries four years ago and has neuropathy in both legs, so he’s given up golf and walks with a cane inscribed with his nickname, “Cooz,” that a fan sent to him about 20 years ago.

“I was still playing 36 (holes of golf) a day,” he said. “I said, ‘What the hell is this all about?’ And now I’m really glad I have it.”

Once Bob Cousy arrived in Worcester, Mass., to play for Holy Cross – helping the team win the 1947 NCAA title – he stayed for good. Now he lives by himself, avoiding attention.

For exercise he walks around his circular driveway. Last year he did it 12 times a day. Now he’s down to six. But he still drives his car. He said he found driving to the basket in his heyday easier than driving his car these days.

“With all the cuckoos on the road,” he said. “Don’t get me started with the texters.”

But his mind remains sharp. Ticia said his memory is better than hers.

Cousy reads two books a week, usually about the FBI, CIA, politics or history. He’s currently working through the best-seller “The Fallen” by David Baldacci after finishing “Spymaster” by Brad Thor.

A pile of 20 or so books sits ready and waiting in his office. In the past year he’s read books on George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, but he’s actually been invited to the White House by more presidents than he’s read about.

Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson (twice), Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan all invited him. He and his family also enjoyed a memorable private audience with Pope John Paul XXIII, when Ticia, 10 at the time, tripped and grabbed the Pope’s robe to avoid falling.

“He loved that,” Cousy said.

‘THE MOST… AWESOME DYNASTY’

Cousy has collaborated on at least six books about him and the latest is scheduled to be released in October: “Cousy, Russell, the Celtics and What Matters in the End.” The author, Gary M. Pomerantz, had planned to write about the role of the Celtics in the integration of the NBA in hiring the first black player, first black starting five and first black coach, but the book developed into a story about Cousy and Russell.

“In my humble judgment,” Cousy said, “we created in the ’50s and ’60s the most significant and distinguished and awesome dynasty that’s ever been done in American professional team sports.”

Cousy helped the Celtics win the first six of their 11 NBA championships in a 13-year stretch. He was voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 1957 and the All-Star Game’s MVP in 1954 and 1957.

He was a first-team All-NBA choice for 10 consecutive years before making the second team his final two seasons. He practically invented the position of point guard, leading the NBA in assists for eight straight years and becoming the first NBA player to be pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

He went on to coach for 11 years, first at Boston College, and then in the NBA for Cincinnati and Kansas City-Omaha before broadcasting Celtics games on television for 34 years.

As a player Cousy was a winner. As he’s grown older he’s had to cope with losses. Cousy’s devoted wife of 63 years, Marie, died at age 85 in September 2013. She was aptly nicknamed “Missie” – he misses her deeply.

“This may sound foolish,” he said, “but I keep my dear bride alive by talking to her every day. … When I get up the first thing I do is say, ‘Morning, sweetheart. Love you. By the way, bad news for you. I’m going to be here all day.’ ”

His Celtics road roommate for a decade, Bill Sharman, passed away a month after Missie at 87. In July, Frank Ramsey, whom he spoke to monthly, became the most recent of his former teammates to die. He was 86. Cousy admits he occasionally wonders how much time he has left.

“It’s a little morbid,” he said, “but I just accept it. That’s the way it is. I’m going to go to the big basketball court in the sky hopefully one of these days.”

A DWINDLING GROUP

Cousy isn’t the oldest living former Celtic. That distinction belongs to George Kaftan, Cousy’s teammate on Holy Cross’ 1947 NCAA championship team.

Kaftan, who turned 90 on Feb. 22, was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the 1947 NCAA tournament, and then played for the Celtics in 1948-49 and 1949-50 before spending two seasons with the Knicks and one with Baltimore.

Cousy, Kaftan and Andy Laska, who turned 93 last month, are the three remaining living members of the only NCAA championship team in Holy Cross history. Cousy visits Laska every 10 days or so at his retirement home.

Of the four living members of the Celtics’ first NBA championship team in 1957, three are Holy Cross graduates: Cousy, Togo Palazzi, who turned 85 on Tuesday, and Tom Heinsohn, who will turn 84 on Aug. 26. But Palazzi was sold to Syracuse during the regular season and wasn’t around for the 1957 playoffs.

The fourth surviving member of the 1957 team is Russell, who turned 84 on Feb. 12.

Asked if he’d like the Celtics to win another championship as a 90th birthday present to him, Cousy replied, “Let’s go with that. That would be meaningful.” Because his mind remains sharp, Cousy still has his memories, 90 years of them. And counting.

Related Stories