‘Katie’ Deola Turns 108

CREST HAVEN — Catherine “Katie” Deola turned 108 on Sept. 18. To all outward appearances, she enjoyed every minute, including blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.
The glowing, most senior resident at Crest haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center was wheeled into her gala party over a red carpet by her daughter Eleanor Voltaggio and son in law John Voltaggio of Avalon Manor.
Freeholders Gerald Thornton and Ralph Bakley Sr. presented her with a resolution plaque, which she accepted with a smile. Then Deola told the freeholders she also received a special greeting from Pope Benedict XVI.
“I’m sure that one is much more important than this one,” laughed Thornton, the board’s human services liaison.
Thornton noted the span of Deola’s life and how many changes took place during that time.
“The Wright Brothers hadn’t even flown the first airplane, and then men walked on the moon,” he said. “Katie was 19 years old when World War One broke out,” he added.
Joining her on that very special afternoon were many home residents, with whom she chatted as the ceremonial cake, with eight candles, was delivered to the front of the room.
Those in a semicircle around Deola included family members and Rev. Steve Rapposelli of Our Lady of the Angels Church, Court House, who said he’d “Known Katie almost 10 years.”
Born in East Vineland, when President William McKinley was in the White House and S. S. Kresge chain-store empire has its beginnings in a 5-and-10-cent store, Catherine Bridi entered the world.
She remained in Vineland throughout her life. She grew up on her family’s farm, where hard work was the norm.
She married John Deola in 1921 and together they worked their family’s farm. The couple had two daughters, four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.
She and John traveled to Florida for many vacations until his passing in 1960.
In her widowhood, Deola maintained her love of travel, took several cruises to the Caribbean and went to Greece, Germany, Monaco and France, while stateside she visited California and Las Vegas.
She has also made a few trips to her father’s birthplace in Italy, where she visited family members in Vigalo Vattaro, Trento.
Deola likes playing cards, especially pinochle, and more recently has taken a liking to Shanghai Rummy.
When asked about her secret to longevity, with a smile she replied, “to be happy and to work.”
Other Noteworthy Things That Happened in 1899:
* The United Mine Workers of America organized under the leadership of Illinois coal miner John Mitchell, 29.
* E. I. du Pont de Nemours incorporated in Delaware.
* U.S. auto production reached 2,500, up from 1,000 in 1898.
* Boston’s last horsecar ran Dec. 24. A trolley line replaced the horsecar as Boston extends its 2-year-old subway.
* The Smith & Wesson .38-caliber Military & Police revolver was introduced by the 43-year-old Springfield, Massachusetts, firm.
* Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was perfected by German chemists Felix Hoffman and Hermann Dreser of Bayer AG.
* Marconi Wireless Company of America is incorporated November 22 under New Jersey law..
* Dentyne chewing gum introduced by New York drugstore manager Franklin V. Canning.
* Mount Rainier National Park is created by act of Congress.
* Gloucester, Mass., fish packer Slade Gorton obtains a patent on the Gorton codfish cake.
* Carnation evaporated milk went on sale Sept. 9 at Seattle, where Klondike-bound gold seekers buy it.
* Coca-Cola is bottled for the first time by Chattanooga, Tenn. lawyers Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead.