[ALBSA-Info] An Arberesh in New Jersey

[Agron Alibali]

When Rose Capello, Red Bank, talks about her mother,
her friends cannot believe that they know someone who
has lived to be 102 years old. 

“I know, it is unbelievable,” Capello said last week. 

Her mother, Anna Lapato, a resident at the Willows
Private Senior Home on Dudley Avenue in Long Branch,
celebrated her 102nd birthday on Friday, a first for
Willows. 

“She is our oldest resident,” Elizabeth Rodriguez, the
manager at Willows, said. “I have one 99-year-old
here, but Anna has her beat.” 

Lapato was born on Feb. 25, 1903, in Italy and came to
the United States when she was just 4 years old,
settling in Norwood, a town in northern New Jersey,
where she lived for 80 years. 

When she was 84 years old, Lapato moved to Shadow Lake
Village in Red Bank before making her residence at
Willows four years ago. 

“She doesn’t look like she is 102 years old,” her
daughter said proudly as she looked over at her mother
sitting next to her and smiled. “She really looks
great.” 

Lapato grew up in a small rural town that was made up
of mostly of farms where residents grew their own
crops, according to Capello who said she was the
second oldest of seven children, all of whom she has
out-lived. 

Lapato graduated eighth grade from the Norwood public
schools and then became a full-time career woman. 

Her first job was in a factory in Sparkhill, N.Y.,
where she made  artificial flowers. 

“She worked very hard when she was young,” Capello
said. 

“She would often tell me that in order to a save a
nickel, she would walk the railroad tracks from her
home to work. I have no idea how long it took, but it
was far and she really did it.” 

Lapato married Emilio Lapato in 1919 and had two
daughters, Capello, 85, and Irene Gastaldello who was
four years younger and who passed away several years
ago. 

After she got married, Lapato landed a job in New York
City as a professional seamstress. 

“It was during the Depression and she was making
$35.50 a week,” Capello said. “During that time, that 
was a lot of money. 

Capello said her family didn’t feel the pressures of
the Depression very much. 

“We did not have it bad,” she said.  “We lived in the
country, we had our own house. We never suffered.” 

Lapato was married for 67 years when her husband
passed away. 

Today, Lapato has four generations of her family
living. She has three grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren, with the youngest family member
being 23 years old. 

Lapato was a very active wife and mother, according to
Capello, who said her mother was involved in the
ambulance corps,  municipal events, her church and the
Republican Party. 

“She is very smart and bright and was always a good
neighbor,” she said. “She spoke Albanian fluently, and
could read and write Italian and she never went to
school for it.” 

Willows hosted a birthday party for Lapato on Friday
to celebrate her long and fruitful life. 

http://atlanticville.gmnews.com/news/2005/0302/Front_Page/020.html

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