The past 104 years have been filled with monumental events that have altered the landscape of this nation, from the sinking of the Titanic, to a major stock market crash, to two world wars, to a polio vaccine, to man walking on the moon and finally to the recent technological boom.
And through it all, Anne Iannarella has lived out her Catholic faith each day since her birth on Aug. 8, 1910.
Iannarella recently celebrated her 104th birthday with family and friends gathered at a luncheon at Russo’s on the Bay, Howard Beach. The smile on her face was radiant as she recalled memories from her long, healthy life.
The parishioner at Blessed Trinity parish, Breezy Point, was also surprised by a special visit from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.
Bishop DiMarzio had spent the morning at Precious Blood Monastery, Fort Hamilton, for two perpetual profession vows, but he still was able to make it to Howard Beach to give her a special blessing.
“I actually know her (Iannarella) from Breezy,” the bishop said. “I’ve been down there quite a few times. They (the family) called me and asked me to come. Not everybody gets to 104, so I’m sure that it’s a special occasion for the bishop to come and offer a birthday blessing.”
Right after the blessing, Iannarella had the bishop laughing by telling him a joke in Italian, saying that “old age is decrepit, but those who don’t get there, it’s worse for them!”
“It’s wonderful to get to that age and be ‘compos mentis’ and be able to enjoy it and see how happy she is,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “I think that’s part of the secret – if you want to get old gracefully, be happy!”
Developing Her Faith
Iannarella was born in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn on Troy and Atlantic Avenues to parents who emigrated from Calabria, Italy. Her first parish was Our Lady of Charity on Dean Street in Crown Heights.
When her two daughters, Mary Kohl and Frances Tome, were young, she would take them to daily Mass at Holy Ghost Church, Borough Park, every morning. She then would take the train to her job in a dress factory, sewing belt loops on women’s dresses by hand.
After splitting her time between New York and Florida for many years, she now resides permanently with her daughter Mary and son-in-law Fred Kohl in Breezy Point, where she attends weekend Mass at St. Edmund Church and watches Mass daily on television.
Each day, she also prays the rosary and individually mentions 49 people who she knows need her prayers. Right after completing the rosary, she mentions the problem one of the 49 is dealing with and asks the Lord to help that person.
“She’s an amazing lady; she prays for everybody!” said Msgr. Fursey O’Toole, retired former pastor from St. Patrick, Bay Ridge, and St. Cecilia, Greenpoint. “She’s an angel of God.”
This year on her actual birthday Aug. 8, Father Sean Suckiel, parochial vicar at Blessed Trinity, gave Iannarella a special blessing in church. She told him that she prays for him that he will deliver good homilies, and she’s always happy to hear when her daughter Mary tells her of Father Suckiel’s preaching.
The Power of Prayer
There have been countless examples throughout her life in which Iannarella has relied on the power of prayer.
Her nephew, George, used to have convulsions when he was a baby, and doctors said that he would be an epileptic child. So she and her sister Vicky would take the trolley Monday nights to St. Peter Claver Church, Bedford-Stuyvesant, to pray the novena to St. Therese of Lisieux with now-Servant of God Msgr. Bernard Quinn.
After the third week of the novena, Vicky was walking outside St. John’s Hospital, Bedford-Stuyvesant, when 5-month-old George had a convulsion. Vicky ran into the hospital, and doctors again said that the boy would be an epileptic child.
However, through continuing to go to Msgr. Quinn’s novenas, Anne and Vicky’s prayers were answered. George never had another convulsion and went on to live until he was 81 years old.
Years later, it was St. Padre Pio that Iannarella called upon in prayer. She had a plane ticket to return to Florida, but one night a few weeks before she was supposed to leave, she fell out of bed and broke two of her toes as she was getting up from the floor.
X-rays confirmed the two broken toes, and doctors in the emergency room told her she had to stay off her feet for six weeks. But she knew she had to be better by the time of her scheduled flight back to Florida.
“I came home, and I started to pray to Padre Pio…please heal my toes, I must go back to Florida, please,” she said.
The following day, she went to her private doctor for a second opinion, and the X-rays still showed two broken toes. She was again told to stay off her feet for six weeks, but she continued to pray and pray.
“Finally I said, ‘Padre Pio, I have to go back in Florida in two weeks. I have my ticket. Help me, heal my toes,’” she said.
About 10 days later at 2:30 a.m., she said someone picked up her foot and then put it down. She believes that was Padre Pio, so when she woke up, she told her daughter Mary that she was cured.
She had her son-in-law Fred take her to her doctor, who laughed aloud when Iannarella said she was cured. However, when the doctor returned with the X-ray results, he said that she was in fact cured, so sure enough, she made her way right down to Florida.
It’s been this devout faith that she attributes to her longevity. She’s a living, breathing example of how prayer can be a guiding force in life.
“People ask me how do I do it, that I live like this,” she said. “I say, ‘I eat, sleep and pray.’ That’s it.”
