By Currents News and Paula Katinas
BAYSIDE — Rose Coiro has experienced a century of life but says she doesn’t feel 100 years old. “To tell you the truth,” she said, “I don’t feel any different.”
Coiro, a resident of Ozanam Hall of Queens Nursing Home, was one of the guests of honor at a birthday luncheon hosted by the nursing home for its centenarians.
According to Sister Philip Ann Bowden, administrator and CEO of Ozanam Hall, 28 of the nursing home’s 432 residents are 100 years of age or older.
Coiro and her fellow honorees were treated to a lunch of flank steak, salad, and a cake that had “Happy 100th Birthday” written on top in icing.
The afternoon party on June 11 was the first time in several years that the nursing home has hosted a birthday luncheon for the century-plus crowd.
Ozanam Hall, run by the Carmelite Sisters, traditionally held an annual birthday salute for its centenarian residents, but was forced to stop the celebration during the pandemic.
“We want to get back to doing it again because it’s such an important thing for the residents to be recognized,” Sister Philip Ann explained. “So, now we want to be doing it every year again.”
Coiro, who grew up in lower Manhattan and attended St. Anthony of Padua Church, spent most of her adult life working for a company that made doll clothes. A long life has given her a large family, she said.
“I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren,” she said.
When asked for her secret to a long life, she joked about being cranky. But she said it with a smile.
Another resident, Ann Feldman, said being 100 years old is “as good as God gives me.”
Her secret to longevity? “I take it day by day. God wants me here,” she said.
Born and raised in East New York, Feldman worked as a secretary, and at one point during World War II, she was asked to travel to New Mexico to work for the Manhattan Project, the top-secret program in which the U.S. government was developing the atomic bomb. She turned down the job offer.
“I didn’t want to leave my family,” she recalled.
The luncheon included a trivia contest in which residents were asked questions about the price of a loaf of bread in 1936 (10 cents) and the name of the U.S. president in 1946 (Harry S. Truman).
The possibility of living past 100 is becoming more of a reality for Americans, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center study, which estimated that the population of people hitting the century mark is expected to quadruple over the next 30 years.
That same Pew Research Center cited statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, which found that in 2024, 101,000 people in the U.S. were age 100 or older, 78% of whom were women.
As for the folks at Ozanam Hall, Sister Philip Ann said the level of care the residents receive there might be at least partly responsible for their longevity.
“Everything about being here is geared toward maintaining themselves in their lifestyle,” she explained.
The centenarians have a lot to teach younger people, Sister Philip Ann said: “It’s about love and about being grateful.”