Mary Vasta Gelo was born on August 21, 1920 in Buffington, PA. She was the second oldest of 5 children in her family, 3 girls and 2 boys. Her dad, a coalminer, and her mother were both very protective of her. She did not have as much freedom as she would have liked, but she was courageous and determined to take control of her own future. Mary wanted to pursue nursing, however her parents did not approve of this. Instead, they decided to send her to live with an aunt in Manhattan. Mary was not happy with this arrangement and ended up returning home to Pennsylvania after only 2 days.
Around the time of Pearl Harbor, Mary went to live with her mom’s niece in Canarsie. She was working in an office in Manhattan for $12.00 a week when she met her future husband, Settimio. Unfortunately, he had to go overseas to serve in World War II. When he returned though, they married and moved to Ridgewood, Queens. They later moved to Richmond Hill and then finally to Franklin Square on Long Island where she raised her family. Mary feels that her marriage was the most significant thing she has done in her life. Mary and Settimio were very happily married for 42 years. She said their secret was they were both deeply committed to it from the very beginning. They decided that they would have discussions, not arguments. They agreed that they would always make all attempts to forget any difficult disagreements and move on.
Mary considers herself an excellent Italian cook. Her specialty has always been preparing fresh pasta dishes. She recalled buying a pasta machine from Gertz department store on a charge card to help her with this. She and her husband used to enjoy canning tomatoes together. Mary has 3 sons, Charles, Thomas and Joseph and a daughter, Lynn. She has also been blessed with 8 beautiful grandchildren.
Mary has been living at The Regency for about 6 months and is still settling in. Mary is a conversationalist and enjoys meeting people and having company. She does not like too much “alone time”. Mary also especially enjoys exercise and Bingo.
The Regency Family would like to wish Mary and all of the “August Babies”a very Happy Birthday!