April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
SCHENECTADY
Parish party surprises four 100-year-olds
Parish party surprises four 100-year-olds
Apparently, God isn't ready yet for quite a few parishioners of St. Anthony's and St. John the Evangelist parishes in Schenectady. Mrs. Marinucci, who turns 100 in February, was the baby of the bunch at a recent luncheon for four centenarians from the parishes.
Mrs. Marinucci was joined by three other 100-year-olds: Nicolina Benequisto, Ruth Tosti and Beatrice DeBlasio. The quartet of women arrived at St. Anthony's Convent for lunch by way of limousine, something they found quite luxurious.
Rev. Richard Carlino, pastor of the parishes, had been planning the party to celebrate the centenarians for about six months. Although the women were in the know about the birthday lunch itself, they were in for one major surprise: Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard would be joining them.
The oldest of the four, Mrs. Tosti, turned 100 in October. Father Carlino celebrated Mass at her home for her birthday, which happened to fall on a Sunday; in fact, all of the women got visits from the pastor on their birthdays.
City slickers
Mrs. Tosti is the only woman who is not a native of Schenectady. She moved to the Albany Diocese from Jamaica, Queens, after she and her husband, Vincent, retired in 1979.
The couple had four children. They now have eight grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
"I was a nurse," she said; her husband was a pediatrician. "I worked in [a hospital] nursery to do things with premature [babies]. We didn't have any incubators, so we had to improvise."
Mrs. Tosti recalled suspending bassinets over lightbulbs to keep the tiny newborns warm. The nurses would also put bowls of water under the cribs to help regulate the humidity.
The other three centenarians all worked at the Schenectady General Electric plant.
Ms. DeBlasio worked at GE for almost 39 years. She noted that Pope Francis gave her an apostolic blessing for her 100th birthday, which was in December.
Mrs. Marinucci worked at both GE and at Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital in Schenectady, caring for children who had polio.
Until six months ago, she was able to drive; since giving up her license, she said, she misses being able to go to the casino.
Old days
"I used to go to St. Anthony's when it was a wooden church," she added, recounting the time she fell on the curb outside of the old church, breaking her arm.
Father Carlino joked that he hoped it wasn't on church property. Mrs. Marinucci informed him that she wouldn't have pressed charges, regardless.
Although Mrs. Beniquisto, who turned 100 in November, was married in Schenectady, she hails from Italy. After immigrating to the United States in 1929, she settled with her husband, Joseph. Their marriage lasted for 50 years until his death.
Remarkably, St. John the Evangelist and St. Anthony's have at least a dozen more parishioners in the same age range. At the birthday party, the four women enjoyed a homemade Italian meal whipped up by Sister Maria Querini, MPV, pastoral associate at St. Anthony's. They dined on prosciutto, homemade pasta, green beans and veal, with ice cream and Italian cookies for dessert.
Schooling Bishop
The ladies reminisced about Schenectady, taking great pride in discussing the streets they grew up on and the communities they built.
"It was a delightful experience," remarked Bishop Emeritus Hubbard -- who, at 78, is a generation younger than the centenarians. "To hear those four women, with such vast backgrounds, share some of their personal lives and their relationship with the Church over the years was extremely inspiring."
Ms. DeBlasio spoke about how she lived on Park Place for most of her life, moved away from the street, and then moved back because she'd missed the "atmosphere" of the neighborhood.
Ms. DeBlasio recalled, with Bishop Emeritus Hubbard, the old tradition of the annual diocesan May Day parade, long since ended. Every parish was required to send a delegation to Albany to participate in the parade.
Bishop Emeritus Hubbard marched in it twice, both as a high school student and as a seminarian. Ms. DeBlasio remembered marching in the parade and then stopping for a large Italian meal on her way back to Schenectady.
At the end of the lunch, Bishop Emeritus Hubbard also gave the women rosaries blessed by Pope Francis, which he'd brought back from his last visit to Rome. All four immediately tucked the gifts into their pocketbooks for safekeeping.
Overseeing the party was a proud Father Carlino. "These are all women I've known for over 25 years," he told The Evangelist; as happy as they were to be honored, he was just as pleased to celebrate them.[[In-content Ad]]
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