Everyone’s got a secret. Few people are willing to share theirs. But members of North Hill’s nonagenarian and centenarian community were more than happy to divulge their secrets to living long and happy lives.
For Dave and Katherine Zampelli, celebrated at Ward 2 Council Member Phil Lombardo’s second “95 & UP Club” birthday party on Saturday, that secret is true love. Dave graduated from North High School in 1954 and Katherine followed in 1956.
For Ray Johns, a WWII veteran who will turn 101 in August, it’s keeping active. He’s recovered from a hip fracture and works out nearly every day at the Natatorium in Cuyahoga Falls.
Adelina Zampelli, who graduated in 1950 from Amador High School in Sutter Creek, California, said a glass of red wine helps.
Burja Magar, age 104, was born in Nepal, where he worked as a farmer — he came to North Hill in 2010. Magar, through his daughter, Purnima, said healthy food is important to long life. He said he wants to live another 30 years.
And to JoAnn Anderson, 93, life’s greatest riches are found in helping people.
“God has a way of putting people in your life to help you keep on living,” Anderson said.
And Norma Derita, who graduated from North High in 1944, simply said, “Who knows?”
‘Who doesn’t love a party?’
The celebration, hosted in Frey Hall at Blessed Trinity Catholic Church on East Tallmadge Avenue, featured live entertainment from Patrick Munford, 83, who’s been a local jazz musician for 60 years.
It also featured live Fourth of July-themed bingo with prizes, including front-door signs and a red, white and blue cowboy hat, which was won by John Collver, 99, another member of North High’s Class of 1944.
The guests clad in corsages and boutonnieres posed by a balloon arch for a group picture. Then they returned to waited tables and partook in the complimentary ravioli dinner and cake for dessert.
The bash was planned and hosted by Lombardo and his wife, Peggy. Phil Lombardo said he wanted this year’s festivities to feel more personal. Blessed Trinity is his home parish as well as that of some of the guests. He provided door prizes for everybody, in addition to the bingo game prizes.
Lombardo said that, sadly, three people on his guest list had to call off — three others recently died. He still wishes everyone could have made it.
About 5,160 of 100,000 men aged 65 or older and 9,640 out of 100,000 women aged 65 or older will live to reach 100 years old, according to the Social Security Administration’s Actuarial Life Table.
“They’ve got a story to tell, and I love to hear it,” Lombardo said. “We’ve got to get them out and about to keep them socialized. Who doesn’t love a party?”
