SWAINTON – Over 35 friends and family members gathered to share memories and make new ones as Fishing Creek resident Frank Rago celebrated his 105th birthday Dec. 28 at Avalon Links.
Born Jan. 3, 1908 in Philadelphia, Rago held court while five generations swirled around him.
Rago, the son of an Italian immigrant, the second youngest of five boys in a family of 10 children, has seen a lifespan that includes horses and buggies, the space race, computers and an 80-year marriage to his sweetheart, Laura Mae Sweeney. That union produced two daughters, two granddaughters, five great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
The former shoe designer shod the feet of stars like Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda and Loretta Young. He began working at the age of 14 and retired at the age of 86.
The centenarian-plus-five continues to garden on the property he and his daughter Doris Rago share. He moved to the area in 1973 when he retired from the shoe business. Bored at being retired, he took a job at a Cape May shop until the shop closed.
Rago, who was born during the Roosevelt administration – Theodore Roosevelt, that is, said of all the presidential administrations he has lived through, George W. Bush remains his favorite president.
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