Weiner, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – At 103 years old, Hugo “Buddy” Schwarz has become something far greater than the oldest resident of Weiner.
He is its living history.
On Friday, family, friends, elected officials and community leaders gathered at Gavin’s Restaurant in Harrisburg for a surprise birthday reception honoring the man many simply know as “Buddy.” Earlier in the day, the City of Weiner officially proclaimed Aug. 7, 2026, as “Hugo ‘Buddy’ Schwarz Day,” recognizing a life defined by military service, agriculture, faith, family and unwavering devotion to the small northeast Arkansas community he has always called home.
Mayor Jeremy Kimble’s proclamation describes Schwarz as “one of its most respected citizens,” noting that his courage during World War II and decades of service afterward helped shape not only Weiner, but generations of Arkansans.
It is difficult to argue with that assessment.
If every town has a treasure, Buddy Schwarz is Weiner’s living crown jewel.
Born Aug. 7, 1923, in the Weiner area, Schwarz has spent more than a century watching America evolve from dirt roads and mule teams to GPS-guided tractors and smartphones. Yet through all of those changes, two things never changed: his love for his country and his love for the land.
Long before modern combines and computerized irrigation systems, Buddy grew up in a family of farmers. During the Great Depression, he often remarked that his family hardly realized the country was in economic crisis because the farm provided nearly everything they needed.
“We raised all our meat and our chickens, had our eggs and milk and potatoes,” he recalled years later. “We thought everybody lived like this.”
That perspective would become the foundation for a remarkable work ethic that never left him.
When World War II changed the world, Buddy answered his nation’s call.
Serving in the Army Air Forces, he trained in Florida and Colorado before shipping across the Panama Canal to the South Pacific. He served in New Guinea, the Philippines and eventually Japan, helping keep American aircraft fueled, maintained and mission-ready as Allied forces advanced across the Pacific. Though he often modestly insisted he wasn’t in direct combat, he witnessed firsthand the enormous sacrifice of war and the many aircraft that never returned from their missions.
Like so many members of the Greatest Generation, Buddy never sought recognition.
He simply came home.
After the war, he returned to Poinsett County, married Mary Pauline, raised five children and resumed farming the family land. Agriculture wasn’t merely his occupation; it was his calling.
Over the decades he witnessed nearly every technological revolution in modern farming. He remembered harvesting rice behind mule-drawn binders, shocking rice by hand, sewing burlap sacks closed and using steam-powered threshing machines before combines transformed the industry. Even after retiring from farming, he remained a familiar face in the combine cab during harvest season.
For nearly half a century, Buddy became one of the faces of the Arkansas Rice Festival’s historic threshing demonstration, helping preserve the traditions of a farming era most Americans have only seen in photographs. Friends often noted that he was the last original member of the demonstration crew and one of the last people who still knew how to hand-sew the rice sacks used during harvest.
His life has become a bridge between generations.
Buddy remembers when Weiner had multiple grocery stores, tractor dealerships, hotels and thriving Saturday night crowds. He remembers clearing timber with crosscut saws, heating homes with wood, fetching water by bucket and watching airplanes become commonplace.
And through every chapter, he remained deeply rooted in the same community where his story began.
Today’s Weiner has a population of just over 600 people. Yet on Friday, it seemed much larger.
The surprise birthday gathering brought together public officials, veterans, neighbors, longtime friends and family members—people who understand that honoring Buddy is really about honoring an entire generation whose sacrifices built the America we know today.
As veterans of World War II become increasingly rare, Buddy represents something increasingly precious.
According to national estimates, only a small fraction of the 16 million Americans who served during World War II remain alive today, making every birthday another remarkable milestone and every opportunity to thank them increasingly important.
The proclamation signed Friday perhaps says it best.
It reminds future generations that the freedoms Americans enjoy today were secured through “the courage, sacrifice and unwavering patriotism” of those who wore the nation’s uniform.
Buddy Schwarz has worn many titles over the past 103 years—soldier, farmer, husband, father, grandfather, mentor and friend.
Today, perhaps one title rises above all the others: Weiner’s Living Crown Jewel.
In an age when heroes often come and go with the news cycle, Buddy Schwarz reminds us that the greatest lives are measured not by headlines, but by quiet service, humble character and a century spent making the world around them better.
Happy 103rd birthday, Buddy. Arkansas is better because you’ve called it home.