ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A 105-year-old man from Texas, who has family ties in the Rochester area, has been chasing eclipses for decades.

LaVerne Biser fell in love with eclipses when he was just a teen in high school. Biser explains he feels good and has no plans on stopping anytime soon.

In 1963 he traveled to Dover Foxcroft, Maine to witness his first total solar eclipse up close, since then he’s been hooked. He has seen a dozen eclipses from Prince Edward Island in 1972 to New Mexico in 2012 to Nebraska in 2017. Biser has viewed each eclipse through the special solar eclipse telescope he built and captures each one through his cannon camera.

He’s even built a special area on top of his tripod and has welding glass to ensure he always gets the perfect solar eclipse pictures. He showed off his favorite solar eclipse picture back in 1979 in Williston North Dakota, one he is very proud of.

News10NBC’s Marsha Augustin: How did you feel after taking that picture knowing that you got it right on the mark.

LaVerne Biser: I was really happy, really happy that everyone else enjoyed it. Everybody clapped.

Biser shared his love for eclipses and says he is excited and ready to watch tomorrow’s eclipse. It will be his 13 one an explained why it never gets old.
         
“They’re beautiful. I just wanted to see what they looked like. You see one, you say my gosh I got to see all of them. You see one you want to see them all. It’s a beautiful site,” Biser said.

Biser was married for 79 years. He has three children, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

He will be watching the eclipse in Dallas, Texas on Monday at his daughter’s home.

What worries him the most is the forecast for Monday, April 8.