Grace Troski, a 99-and-a-half-year-old resident at Shelton’s Hewitt Health and Rehab Center, knows the secret to living a long life.
Eat well. Work hard.
“I didn’t retire until I had to,” said Troski, a retired clerical worker and one of four centenarians (or near-centenarians) celebrated by staff and other residents at the nursing home Wednesday.
Troski loves work so much she even took time during Wednesday’s fete to ask Hewitt Administrator Kevin Gendron if he was looking to hire anyone.
“I’d like to work again,” she said. “I’m a good typist, I can use a computer, and I’m great on the telephone.”
Gendron joked that he’d think about it.
About 40 residents and staff at Hewitt gathered in the building’s second-floor parlor for the party Wednesday (July. 24).
The foursome sipped champagne and nibbled on a spread of appetizers, sandwiches, and a cake to mark the occasion.
In addition to Troski, the centenarians honored were:
- Janetta Frashuer, 101
- Teresa Razzini, 101
- Violet Moravek, 99-and-a-half
Cathy Kelley, a social worker at the facility, said she was talking with other staff members a few months ago about how there were four women there nearing or past the century mark and thought they should be honored for their longevity.
“Two are 101 and two are 99-and-a-half,” she recalled saying. “That’s marvelous, that’s a wonderful thing. We should celebrate their lives. It’s 400-plus years of life.”
Gendron said he hasn’t seen anything like it in his career.
“People are living longer and longer,” he said. “It’s great.”
Brian Bedard, vice president of operations for Apple Rehab, which runs Hewitt, stopped by to ask the women what their secrets to longevity were.
For Frashuer, the answer was a simple one — just live your life, and enjoy it.
“I don’t mean doing bad things,” she added quickly as Bedard laughed. “But I mean to enjoy your life.”
Even Mayor Mark Lauretti got in on the act, dropping by to present the four women with congratulatory certificates to mark “quite a special occasion.”
Lauretti noted one of his own grandmothers missed the century mark by just a month. “With any luck, I’ve got that longevity in my genes.”
“I want to applaud you on your achievement in being centenarians,” the mayor added. “I know that any one of us would sign up now for that if we could. Reaching 100 is a distinction that not everyone enjoys. Congratulations.”
