Ipswich resident Sarah DeFlorio has seen it all. The tumultuous times of two world wars, a great depression and more. DeFlorio celebrated her 107th birthday May 6 at the Caldwell Skilled Nursing Center on Green Street, where she is known as "Aunt Sarah."
"We've become a part of her extended family," explains Caldwell Administrator Phil Sher. "She's a great example of the people who made our country what it is today. Sarah makes us proud to be in the profession of caring for the elderly."
DeFlorio was born May 6, 1901 in Boston's North End and spent the majority of her early life living there. She remembers going to Faneuil Hall as a young girl to buy eggs for the family.
"We didn't have much money at the time, so I'd buy these cracked eggs at the market," she says.
She grew up in a family of seven and her father worked with stable horses.
"My father always told me to try to help people and not to sit around," says DeFlorio. "God put you here to do something, not just breathe in the fresh air."
DeFlorio would carry out her father's wish all her life.
During her time in school she became interested in working as a seamstress through the Practical Arts Program. After high school DeFlorio made it into a career, during which she worked for such companies as Robert Lawrence.
"She did this her whole life, and even made a lot of gowns for her own family," says Karen D'Ambrosio, whose husband is Sarah's great-nephew. "All her gowns had lots of sequins and pearls sewn all about."
DeFlorio even got the opportunity to sew buttonholes for presidents Warren G. Harding and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
"She found out who the coats were going to by looking at the order forms," says D'Ambrosio.
The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 had a big effect upon DeFlorio.
"I was watching the Titanic movie with her one night on television," says D'Ambrosio. "She stayed up until 11 o'clock to watch the whole thing. But she couldn't sleep all night, because she remembered the day it happened and it was all over the newspapers in Boston."
In 1919 the North End experienced a molasses flood that covered the neighborhood. A large tank exploded and unleashed gallons of the syrup. DeFlorio remembers waist-deep levels; some people were injured and killed. Buildings were knocked off their foundations and the harbor turned brown.
"I remember taking her for drives through that area in the 80's," says D'Ambrosio. "Aunt Sarah would talk about how she could still smell the molasses during the summertime."
DeFlorio retired early in her 60's and moved to Wenham in 1978 to live at Enon Village. While there she took care of her extended family, which included great nieces and nephews and great-great nephews and nieces.
"Sarah always stayed active," says D'Ambrosio. "She was babysitting up to her 90s and cooking until she was 100. She'd make fabulous Italian pastries, pasta dishes, and sour cream coffee cake."
DeFlorio also crocheted and embroidered dolls that she'd give to her nieces and nephews. Many of these dolls were donated to the Wenham Museum.
DeFlorio has lived at Caldwell now for five years. Every week she can be found playing a game of bingo and singing to her favorite song, "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean," on Thursdays in the Dining Room.
Caldwell Activities Coordinator Cheryl Langlais says of Aunt Sarah, "She's one of the sweet ones."
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