HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Josie Celentano celebrates 100 years in her Johnston home

By RORY SCHULER
Posted 1/5/23

Johnston born and bred, Josephine “Josie” Celentano turned 100 years old in the same Binghampton Avenue home where she was born.

“I’m an old bag,” she laughed, seated …

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Josie Celentano celebrates 100 years in her Johnston home

Posted

Johnston born and bred, Josephine “Josie” Celentano turned 100 years old in the same Binghampton Avenue home where she was born.

“I’m an old bag,” she laughed, seated at her dining room table, an inflated shining gold balloon “100” hanging behind her. “I worked hard all my life.”

Celentano was one of nine brothers and sisters. Only she and baby sister Alice Macera, now 88 (the youngest Celentano sibling), survive, out of five boys and four girls.

Josie Celentano was the seventh child.

She loves linguini and “pickies” (snacks like chips and dip).

The fresh centenarian credits “staying active” and a little sangria for helping her live a long happy life.

“I like to add a little soda to my sangria,” she said. “I have no complaints. When I have my lunch, and a little sangria, I’m like a queen sitting here.”

Celentano enjoys word puzzles, like crosswords and word searches. She considers herself a bit of a card shark. She said she always wins at solitaire.

Celentano said it was smooth sailing until she hit 98 years old. Then her hearing started acting up. Now she gets a little frustrating asking friends and family to repeat themselves.

“I feel good,” she said. “Except two weeks ago, when I fell.”

Celentano took a tumble and broke two ribs. She recuperated fast, in time for a birthday party in her honor on Sunday, Jan. 1.

“I didn’t expect anybody to come,” she said. “I figured it would be nice and quiet.”

Celentano drank mimosas on her birthday.

“We had a nice time,” she reports. About 25 friends and family packed her Binghampton Avenue home, where she’s lived her entire life.

Born on Jan. 1, 1923, Celentano recalls a barn and chicken coops behind her home. One time the boys slaughtered a 500-pound pig outside. They used to hunt and bring the game home for her mother to cook.

Every Friday night, she recalls her father — Ralph “Jimmy Baldy” Celentano  — and his friends playing cards out back. Her mother Rose (Montefort) would fix them snacks.

Rose and Ralph were Italian immigrants; her father from Sicily, her mother from outside Rome. They moved from New York and New Jersey to Rhode Island, where they settled down in Johnston. They were 10 years apart in age, but both died at age 95.

 Josie Celentano is the first of her family to reach 100 years old.

If you want to live as long as Josie, simply follow her advice:

“I say work hard. We all worked hard in this house. And drink a little sangria.”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: On Jan. 1, Josephine “Josie” Celentano turned 100 years old in the same Binghampton Avenue home where she was born. (Sun Rise photo by Rory Schuler)

BIG PARTY: On Sunday, about 25 friends and family packed Celentano’s Binghampton Avenue home, where she’s lived her entire life, for a 100th birthday celebration. (Submitted photos)

ALL DRESSED UP: About 80 years ago, Josephine “Josie” Celentano got all dressed up for a relative’s wedding.

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