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Age is where most people like to start when they meet Adam Diaz, and he is quite happy to oblige.

Diaz, 100, blazed the trail for many of Arizona's Latino leaders, including council members, county supervisors, lobbyists, and behind-the-scenes players. In 1953 he became the first Mexican American elected to the Phoenix City Council, where he served four years before becoming vice mayor for one year. Diaz was on a first-name basis with Arizona's political elite of the day, including the late Barry Goldwater, the state's longtime U.S. senator and the 1964 Republican presidential candidate.

"He was a good man," Diaz says of Goldwater, who is considered the father of modern conservatism. "He made Phoenix a big town." Goldwater also had a deep appreciation for the state's Hispanic and Native American cultures, Diaz adds. Four years after chairing the statewide Viva Kennedy campaign in 1960, Diaz temporarily switched political hats to form Arizona Democrats for Goldwater.

Following his years on the city council, Diaz remained active in civic affairs. He served on the Phoenix Elementary School Board and on the boards of various nonprofit organizations. President Bill Clinton appointed him to the Task Force on Aging, which led to a White House meeting with Tipper Gore to discuss issues important to seniors. Two years ago, the City of Phoenix named the Adam Diaz Senior Center after him.

On his 100th birthday, Congressman Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., praised him from the House floor. "I am honored to recognize Adam Diaz for his extraordinary leadership and lifelong dedication to public service," Pastor said in remarks entered into the Congressional Record.

Adam Diaz with his wife, other relatives, and friends at the dedication of the the Adam Diaz Senior Center in Phoenix, on June  7, 2007.

Diaz was born September 2, 1909—on the heels of the President Theodore Roosevelt administration—in Flagstaff, Arizona, two and a half years before Arizona became the nation's 48th state. When he was four, his family left the mountains for the desert so his father could take a job with the Southern Pacific Railroad in Phoenix. Diaz was only 13 when his father died of pneumonia and, as the oldest son in a family with five children, Diaz became man of the house.

His widowed mother took in laundry to support her family, and his retelling of her work ethic provides one hint to his longevity. "She didn't seem to mind hard work," he says. "People would bring their clothes to her because she did such a good job. Oh, they looked so beautiful-a line of clean white clothes waving in the breeze." His blue eyes sparkled, as if he could still see his mother's handiwork from his own kitchen window.

Diaz now lives in a tidy Phoenix duplex with his 91-year-old wife, Frances. "She takes good care of my Tata," says his granddaughter, Lisa Urias, who owns a Scottsdale marketing and public relations firm.

As a young man, Diaz worked as an elevator operator at the Luhrs Building, a ten-story building that still stands in downtown Phoenix. The high-rise housed the Arizona Club, whose members included the state's movers and shakers. The building's owner, a German immigrant named George Luhrs, took note of Diaz's keen mind and his easy way with people. Luhrs decided to put Diaz—the son of Mexican immigrants—through business school so he could learn to manage the Luhrs Building and its sister property, the Luhrs Tower. Diaz remained with the Luhrs company until his retirement in 1976.

Although he's taking life a bit more slowly these days, he exercised daily and traveled extensively into his 80s. He even served as a personal trainer for those in their 80s and 90s—while he was in his 70s. His granddaughter attributes his long life to hard but satisfying work, a positive attitude, good genes, and a loving family.

A small glass of wine every night hasn't hurt either, chimes in Frances.