April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ST. MICHAEL'S, COHOES
Centenarian 'doesn't feel old'
Centenarian 'doesn't feel old'
The flowers were there for a much better reason: On Jan. 27, the parishioner of St. Michael's Church in Cohoes celebrated her 100th birthday.
Mrs. Korbel grew up with three sisters and a brother -- mostly in Cohoes, though she lived in nearby Waterford for a time during her youth. Her parents, Stefania and Adolph, both came to the United States from Poland.
"Dad worked in the paper mills in Waterford," Mrs. Korbel remembered. "My mother was raising the children and working at home. She pressed shirts for the Trojan Shirt Factory" in Troy.
Mrs. Korbel, who was born in 1916, attended St. Michael's School. During the Great Depression, she recalled that times were tough, but her mother was able to continue working.
After making her First Communion, the young girl transferred to a public high school. She finished high school in just three years and said she "wanted to go to college, but of course my parents weren't wealthy."
College-bound
There was an opportunity at the time to go to Albany State College (now The University at Albany) for free. This offer was for students with school averages of over 90 percent for women -- lower, for men -- but Mrs. Korbel's grades didn't hit that mark. So, she started looking elsewhere, eventually finding enough financial aid from The College of Saint Rose in Albany.
Graduating from Saint Rose in 1938, she went on to earn her master's degree in education at The University at Albany.
Soon after she graduated, World War II broke out, disrupting Mrs. Korbel's life in more ways than one.
"I had a boyfriend and we were making plans for marriage," she said. "We were home that night, and we looked at each other: We knew he would be going off to the service."
Her sweetheart, Anthony, was drafted and became an Army truck driver in Japan. Mrs. Korbel wrote him letters frequently.
"I taught during the day, rationed on the weekends and wrote letters to the boys in service," she said.
She and fellow teachers filled out ration books, but she said that "the biggest thing that affected us was seeing our young men going away."
Home safe
When the war ended and Anthony came home safely, they were married immediately. Mr. Korbel became a truck driver for National Automotive Fibers. Mrs. Korbel continued teaching at her old high school in Waterford.
The couple had two children: Claudia and, several years later, Judith. Claudia currently lives in Florida, Judith in West Virginia. Judith's daughter, Sandra, is Mrs. Korbel's only granddaughter.
The centenarian believes that raising children is more difficult now than it used to be, though she said she tried not to tell her daughter how to parent.
"I think everything was more stable and quiet," Mrs. Korbel said of when her own children were growing up.
After her husband passed away, Mrs. Korbel sold her family's home and moved to the Spring Meadows retirement community in Latham.
Now, as the oldest member of her family, she reflects on the many changes she's seen, most notably the closing of several churches in Cohoes and the city's Catholic schools.
Faith life
Mrs. Korbel is still very active in her parish, attending St. Michael's every Sunday. "My niece picks me up," she noted.
The matriarch also belongs to the parish's Altar Rosary Society. There once was "a system where there were Children of Mary [for the youths]; then you grew up and joined the Sacred Heart Society; then, when you got married, you joined the Rosary [Society]," she said.
However, decreasing numbers ended the Sacred Heart Society, and single women are now allowed to join the Rosary Society.
Changes in the Church weren't as big a disappointment for Mrs. Korbel as another change: She's now legally blind and hasn't driven since 1998.
"The saddest part was when I lost my driver's license," she said, remembering that she started driving when she graduated from college: "My husband was courting me. He taught me how to drive."
Mrs. Korbel doesn't mind getting older -- although, "to tell you the truth," she said, "I never felt old. Even now, I know I'm old, but I don't feel it."
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