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2011 Celebration of Aging

Nearly 300 people celebrated Older American’s Month at the Dutchess County Division of Aging Services’ annual “Celebration of Aging” held at the Villa Borghese in Wappingers Falls.     Four Dutchess County residents were honored as “Senior Citizens of the Year” in recognition of their achievement.

The “Celebration of Aging” event, originated by County Executive Steinhaus in 1999, is held annually to recognize the outstanding contributions senior citizens make to Dutchess County.    The following are the 2011 Senior Citizens of the Year:

• Patricia Coughlin of Poughkeepsie was named the Female Senior Citizen of the Year.
  
  
• Harold Goodwill of Rhinebeck was named the Male Senior Citizen of the Year.
  
  
• Ed & Mary Lou Koziol of Wappinger were the Senior Citizen Couple of the Year. 
  
  
• In addition, Marion Caputo of Wappingers Falls received a Senior Citizen Achievement Award.

New York State Assemblyman Marcus J. Molinaro represented Dutchess County Executive William R. Steinhaus for the presentation of the awards.    “It is inspiring to have so many remarkable people who are engaged and active, giving of their time and talent to make Dutchess County the wonderful community that it is.  Congratulations to all of the honorees!”

Also honored at the Celebration of Aging event were two Dutchess County couples for 70 or more years of marriage and seventeen “centenarian” residents whose ages ranged from ages of 100 and 106.

Read the honorees’ bios below.

Senior Citizens of the Year

Patricia S. Coughlin
Patricia is very involved in several facets of her church, the Faith Assembly of God, where she is on the Board of Directors of Centrifugal Force, a ministry to inner-city children, a bible teacher, a certified counselor helping people in crisis, a member of the Samuel Prayer Ministry and also active in the widows/widower bereavement group.  She drives several of the elderly to shopping and the doctor and also volunteers to drive developmentally disabled adults to work and other appointments.  She helps serve the once monthly Bread of Life meal to the disadvantaged and even finds time to baby sit her 4 year old great-granddaughter.  Patricia just celebrated her 83rd birthday.  She was nominated for this award by her two daughters, Elizabeth Fonda and Kathleen Regan.

Harold Goodwill
Harold Goodwill was one of the first members of the Golden Age Singers, a group who volunteers their time performing for the elderly in nursing homes and senior residences. He is currently a part of the group’s bass section, an accomplished trombone player and a member of the musicians union for over 70 years.  Harold loves to sing and is the only male member of his church choir.  He volunteers in the Information Systems department of Northern Dutchess Hospital and has participated in the Meals on Wheels program.  He has been a Mason for 55 years and for 20 years travelled the country as the tour director for the Rhinebeck AARP Travel Club. Obviously, at age 91, Harold continues to spread Goodwill wherever he goes.

Ed & Mary Lou Koziol
Ed Koziol is the Executive Director of the Dutchess Interfaith Council, an organization that works to promote understanding and respectful relationships among the diverse religious communities of Dutchess County.  Mary Lou has been a nurse for over 40 years.  They are both active in Cursillo, a Christian ministry and on the boards of Greystone and Greystone Endowment, a program that provides enriching opportunities to people living with Autism and other developmental disabilities. Mary Lou organizes spiritual weekends at Mt. Alvernia for the seriously ill and Ed is a talented singer who entertains regularly at many not-for-profits and nursing homes.  Ed is also involved in Residents Encounter Christ, a Greenhaven Prison program.  Ed & Mary Lou have been married for over 51 years.

Senior Achievement Award Winner

Marion Caputo
Marion Caputo was a long time resident of the Vassar-Warner Home where she took on the role of a one woman Welcome Wagon.  One of the hardest aspects of relocating to any type of senior housing is adjusting to your new environment.  Marion helped each new resident navigate the difficult transition as she listened to their concerns and related her own story.  She was always willing to help in any way she could.  She recently transferred to the Avalon Assisted Living Center.  For her compassionate efforts, the Advisory Board selected Marion to receive the 2011 Senior Achievement Award.

Dutchess County Couples Married Over 70 Years

Ezio & Elvira Copioli
Ezio and Elvira Copioli were both born in San Marino, Italy and met each other as very young children.  At the age of 11, Elvira moved to Rome to work - cooking and cleaning for a wealthy family.  Ezio followed her to Rome where they married when she was just 16.  Ezio immigrated to the U.S. in 1951 and got a job making custom furniture in NYC.  Elvira and their 2 children came over the following year and by 1967, Ezio had opened his own shop and ran it until he retired in 1980.  He’s made furniture for many celebrities of the era like Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme.  The couple currently lives in Fishkill and love spending time with their 7 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Later this year will mark their 75th wedding anniversary!

Sam & Lossie Lee
Lossie and Sam Lee were married in Georgia on December 1, 1939, but they have spent most of their married life as respected members of the Fishkill community.  For several decades they were both members of the Fishkill Volunteer Fire Department and Lossie volunteered at the Fishkill Thrift shop.  Since 1951, they have been active members of the Beulah Baptist Church.  They have five children, 17 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and 22 great-great grandchildren.  They have been married for 71 years. 

Centenarians

Louise Carroll (99) was born in Hamburg, Germany and emigrated through Ellis Island when she was 16.  She worked in the garment industry in Brooklyn for most of her life and was married twice and widowed twice.  She lives in the community as part of the Lutheran Care Center’s Foster Family Care Program.

Gene St. Germain (99) was born in Saratoga, NY and did very well in school eventually graduating from college with a degree in business. She moved to Poughkeepsie when she secured a job with the phone company.  She held that job for 50 years. She was married 4 times and has 2 children. Gene says the secret to her longevity is “always having fresh flowers around you and plenty of chocolate”. She feels she is still around because “The good Lord hasn’t decided to take me yet!”

Mary LaSusa (99) was born to immigrants from Sicily.  She attended Poughkeepsie schools and married her husband Joseph at Mt. Carmel Church.  They were married for 46 years.  They opened Joe’s Pizza Stand and Mary ran it for almost 25 years.  Mary continues to love traveling, cooking, gardening, crocheting and sewing.  She lives at home with her daughters Nina and Margie and is a member of Holy Trinity Parish and the Poughkeepsie Grange.  She has 5 children, 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

Carmella Corrozza (100) was born in Manhattan and married her husband Albert in 1930.  They raised 4 sons: Vincent, Louis, Theodore and Alfred.  She loved to cook, bake, knit and crochet.  She lived for many years in Pine Bush, but moved to Dutchess County 24 years ago.  She still has her own apartment and is very independent.  She has 11 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Josephine Kreider (100) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education in 1933.  She worked as a case worker and later a supervisor for the Department of Public Welfare in Pittsburgh from 1934 until 1969.  She volunteered for years with a young girls recreational group.  In 1951, she married Robert Kreider and they were together for almost 50 years.  She moved to Wappingers in 2003 to live with her niece and her husband.  She has 3 nieces, 10 great nieces and nephews and 4 great, great nieces and nephews.  Josephine’s interests include gardening, crossword puzzles, reading and cooking.

Vivian Defreitas (100) was born, raised and educated in Harlem.  As a young lady, she became the first woman to ever be appointed to manage a Woolworths department store.  She later began a new career with the Royal Globe Insurance Co. where she managed and taught the actuary mathematics used in insurance.  She retired in 1970 and relocated to Poughkeepsie.  These days she makes her home at the Pines in Poughkeepsie.

Alma Kiefhaber (100) was the youngest of 6 girls in her Bronx family.  At 16, Alma worked as a bookkeeper in a corset factory for 10 years.  In 1936, she married her husband Henry who owned and managed a Real Estate Business and they both worked at the business until they retired 50 years later.  In 1995, Henry & Alma moved to the Fountains at Millbrook.  Henry passed away in 1997, but Alma still enjoys the company of her many friends, the wonderful music programs and playing cards & BINGO!  Even on days when she does not feel 100%, Alma always pushes herself to get out and socialize.  She was delighted to get out on the Walkway Over the Hudson recently.

Hazel Hanlin (101) was born and raised in Ohio and moved to Colorado as a teenager where she graduated from high school and met her husband Glenn who was stationed there in the Army.  Glenn was transferred several times until the couple settled in Poughkeepsie.  In 1946, they bought their first house in Wappingers Falls.  For the next 20 years, Hazel was manager of the payroll department at the Standard Gage Company.  After her husband passed, Hazel moved to Millbrook and became an active member of St. Joseph’s Church.  She has 3 daughters, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Mazie Johnson (101) was one of 16 children born and raised on a 600 acre plantation in South Carolina owned by her parents.  She graduated from Allen University and returned to her hometown to teach school for 8 years as well as work as a reporter for a local newspaper.  She married her first husband Henry in 1936 and the couple moved to Beacon where he was a chef at Castle Point Veteran’s Hospital.  Mazie soon discovered that, at that time in NY, black teachers (no matter what their experience) were unheard of; so she was forced to work at a variety of lesser jobs.  Almost 20 years later, she was part of an organization that successfully lobbied to have the first African American teachers hired in Dutchess & Orange Counties.  Mazie considers her participation in the 1963 Civil Rights March in Washington DC with Dr. Martin Luther King to be one of the highlights of her life.  She is one of the founding members of the Southern Dutchess Women’s Club, and was active in the NAACP, the PTA, the Christian Women’s Club, as well as having received a multitude of recognitions for her 7 decades of contributions to the St. James AME Zion Church in Beacon. 

Maisry MacCracken’s (101) father was the 5th President of Vassar College, serving for 31 years beginning in 1915.  Maisry will never forget the reception held at Vassar in 1933 in honor of the President & Mrs. Roosevelt on the front porch of her house!  Maisry attended Vassar, graduating in 1931 and going on to receive a degree in Library Administration at Columbia Library School.   During the mid-1930’s Maisry spear-headed a drive to bring a County Wide Library System to Dutchess County that eventually led to the formation of the Mid Hudson Library System.  Her work in the library field and other educational and political pursuits took her all over the U.S. and countries like Brazil, England, France and Switzerland.  She returned to Dutchess County to care for her aging parents and took a job at the Dutchess Community College Library. Maisry was a long time member of the 1st Congregational Church on Mill Street in Poughkeepsie and spent over 20 years actively involved with the Poughkeepsie Meals on Wheels Program.  In the year 2000, 67 years after she had met Eleanor Roosevelt at Vassar, Maisry was awarded the Val-Kill Candlelight Award given annually to someone who follows the principles of Eleanor Roosevelt.  These days, Maisry, as you would expect of a former librarian – loves to read. 

Four years ago, we honored Elenora Oberhoffer (101) at the Celebration of Aging as the Female Senior Citizen of the Year!   Although she didn't move to Dutchess County until she was in her 70s, she has been involved in so many organizations, many people assume she has been a resident her entire life. She is a member of the Skyllkil Needlework Guild, Fortnightly, the Older Women’s League, the American Association of University Women, the Child Care Council, Dutchess Interfaith Council, and Church Women United to name but a few.

Harold Goldstein (101) has not let the advances in technology over his lifetime pass him by.  He loves to e-mail and surf the Internet.  Harold says although he grew up all over Massachusetts and NY, he “matured in Brooklyn” which is where he met his wife Lily whom he was married to for 72 years.  Together they loved sailing and Harold even built a sailboat that was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1938.  Until just recently, Harold would still sail solo on Sylvan Lake!  He calls himself the “ancient mariner” and is a proud member of the Beacon Sloop Club and supporter of their environmental preservation activities. 

Theresa Riglione (102) was born in Italy and was just 4 months old when she emigrated with her parents to lower Manhattan.  She grew up one of 8 children, of which she is the only survivor.  She met her husband in the neighborhood and in the 1950s, they bought a summer home in Hopewell Junction.   When her husband retired in 1968, they moved to Hopewell permanently.  Theresa was left alone in the house when her husband passed away just 2 years later.  Even though she has never had a driver’s license, she managed to spend the next 36 years in the house independently thanks to friends, relatives, and services like Dial-A-Ride. 

Anna Mae Swenson (102) is another of our Poughkeepsie natives.  As a young lady, she was a soloist in her church choir.  She was asked to sing at many special events including a 1939 Mass in Hyde Park attended by President Roosevelt and King George & Queen Elizabeth, the first English Monarchs to ever visit American soil.  Anna Mae started exercising at the age of 80 and on days when she doesn't have a yoga or stretching class at Arbor Ridge were she lives, she peddles 10 miles on her stationary bike.  The bike is looking a little beat up these days as she is currently at 71,600 miles – enough to have biked from Maine to California and back again…more than 10 times.  She plays bridge two or three times a week and to keep away arthritis, she still eats 9 raisins a day soaked in gin.  

Lifelong Poughkeepsie resident Dot Neville (103) was born at her parent’s home and raised by her single father.  She attended Poughkeepsie schools, but dropped out at 16 to work in the Poughkeepsie Cigar Factory.  Dot met her husband William at a local dance and they were married for 67 years.  They raised one daughter Judy, and up until recently, Dot would take a plane by herself to visit Judy and her husband in Florida.  She has 2 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren that she just adores.   When she was just a child, her father had taken her to visit her grandmother in Highland on the train that crossed the bridge that is now the Walkway Over The Hudson.  Almost a century later, she was able to once again traverse the span and enjoy the views on the Walkway.

Sadie Effron (104) was born in a small town in Ontario, Canada. When she was just 18, her father passed away and she had to put college on hold to take a job to help support the family.  In 1930, Sadie married her husband Bill and moved to Poughkeepsie where they started a small business.  Today, over 70 years later, that business, Efco Products, is still located in Poughkeepsie and is a leading supplier to the baking industry. While raising her family, Sadie volunteered at Vassar Brothers Hospital, Temple Beth El and the Red Cross…but it wasn't until she was in her 60’s that she found the time to fulfill her desire to get back to school.  She started by taking night classes and in 1979, she graduated from Marist College magna cum laude at the age of 72.  She continues her studies at Marist’s Center for Lifetime Study.  Sadie Effron celebrated her 104th birthday this past March.

Florence Williams (106) is a lifetime member of St. John’s Evangelical Church on Wilbur Boulevard.  She married her husband Arthur in that church, and they were together for 62 happy years until he passed away at the age of 99 in 1999.  Flo worked as a dental assistant for over 50 years. She especially enjoys the company of family & friends and still makes Poughkeepsie her home, as these days she resides at the Lutheran Care Center.  Flo believes the key to a long life is to stay busy, keep your mind active, and stay positive.  Flo is currently the oldest person alive who was born in Poughkeepsie.  This August she will turn 107!