A life well lived

She lived most of her life in the Oregon section of Pittston, residing happily in her own home until she was 99.

She traveled the world, but never learned how to drive.

She lived through the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic and quickly recovered from a bout with COVID-19 last year.

Rosalie L. Smith, who died earlier this month at the age of 107 at her daughter’s home in California, was laid to rest on Friday next to her beloved husband, her long and remarkable life celebrated by friends and family who remembered her as fiercely independent, funny, sharp and alert until her final days, and forever proud of her hometown and her Sicilian roots.

Born when Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States, she lived long enough to communicate with loved ones via Skype and Facebook.

“The unique thing about my mother is she never took any kind of medication. The first time she took medication was in her hundreds for her thyroid,” son Joseph P. Smith said. “Other than that, if she got sick, it was always home remedies.”

“Strong as a horse,” daughter Claire Smith said, recalling how some heart scares later in life turned out to be heartburn. “I gave her a Tums, 15 minutes later, she was fine. Her blood pressure was always good, better than mine.”

Did Rosalie Smith have a secret to longevity?

Her daughter thinks cooking with garlic and lots of walking certainly were beneficial, though she acknowledges that her mother used to offer her own witty response to those who asked about her long life.

“Her response was ‘hard work, aggravation and spite,’” Claire Smith said, chuckling.

More than that, though, Rosalie Smith maintained a positive outlook through her many decades, even as friends and loved ones passed away: She was the last surviving member of her immediate family.

“When you live to be 107, loss is consistent and persistent,” Claire Smith said. “She never got resentful. She would get sad, but she never got morose. So to me that was a real lesson. How she dealt with the losses that come with such a long life was pretty amazing.”

Claire Smith, together with brother Joseph and his wife, Francie, sat down to talk with the Times Leader about their mom’s life on Saturday afternoon, with plenty of laughter, smiles, and a few tears.

We reached out to them after receiving Rosalie Smith’s obituary, which detailed her long, proud story with humor and grace. We know there are deeper stories behind every obituary, but Rosalie’s felt like one we wanted to share with a wider audience.

Rosalie’s life

As the obituary pointed out:

She was born in Pittston on July 5, 1915, to the late Joseph and Anna Maria (Alu) Saitta.

Rosalie was born in the Saitta family homestead at 118 Tompkins St., Pittston, where her parents had founded Saitta’s Market and Barber Shop after immigrating to the United States from San Cataldo, Sicily, in 1911.

The barber shop was later operated by her brother, Samuel. The store operated for almost 50 years, serving families living in the Oregon section of Pittston.

The homestead expanded as the Saitta family grew, and Rosalie often reminisced how her father’s nephew, Joseph Saitta, her favorite cousin, was instrumental in building the apartment above the store where she and her brothers and sisters lived, but who was later killed in action as a tank commander during the last stage of fighting in Belgium during World War II. Rosalie, along with her brothers and sisters, worked in the store and later in several dress factories then located in South Pittston.

Rosalie was a member of the Pittston High School class of 1933, a longtime member of the former St. Rocco Church on Tompkins Street, and a proud member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU).

Rosalie also enjoyed the many times she spent with her extended Saitta and Alu clan members at her parents’ summer place in Evans Falls, Wyoming County, usually called “the farm.” Although the house had neither indoor water, nor bathrooms, nor electricity, it did have a hand-cranked record player and Rosalie with her brothers, sisters, and cousins would sing and dance, swim, go on hayrides, and walk to Harveys Lake, with the group usually escorted by her elder brother Samuel.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Paul Smith; brothers: Samuel, Anthony, and Cataldo Saitta; and sisters: Mary Forgionne, Carmella Saitta, and Sue Palermo.

In addition to her children, survivors include three grandsons, two nephews, a niece, a sister-in-law, and six great-grandchildren.

School years

Claire Smith pointed to a photo of her mother in her high school years, looking stylish in the fashions of the time. Rosalie also loved to sew and was skilled at making her own clothes, her daughter recalled.

Francie Smith recalled her mother-in-law talking about watching dance marathons — a popular thing back in the 1920s and ’30s, at the old Pittston Armory.

But, her children pointed out, Rosalie came from a strict Sicilian family, and the girls were never allowed out without a chaperone, usually one of their brothers.

“She would tell the story of how one time, after school, she and one of her friends were walking downtown when one of my uncles passed, stopped the car and told her, ‘you get home,’” Joseph Smith recalled. “And she listened, even though she was older than him.”

Being the daughter of immigrants, Rosalie also had to translate for her parents at times. As a young woman, she served as interpreter when her mother became a naturalized American citizen, Joseph Smith said.

Never learned to drive

Rosalie was well traveled. In addition to bus trips throughout the Northeast and New England she traveled the world from Japan, to Paris, to Tangiers. She traveled to Germany for the birth of her twin grandsons, Patrick and Jeremiah, and in a separate trip visited her parents’ birthplaces in San Cataldo, Sicily. Later in life she would fly across the country, sometimes solo, between Joseph and Francie’s home in New Hampshire and Claire’s home in California.

But for all that, she never learned to drive, and was known to walk all over Pittston.

“There was no need to drive,” Joseph Smith said. “My father drove, and she told a story that one time my father tried to get her to drive, and she refused.”

Why?

“She tried to drive, she almost hit some cars, and she said, enough of that,” Joseph Smith said. “And from that point on, my father stopped trying to talk her into driving.”

One thing Rosalie did love doing was taking the trolley, and later the bus, down to Wilkes-Barre to shop at all the old department stores on Public Square — where one photo shows her standing with little Joe and Claire in the 1950s.

For the most part, though, she stayed close to home, as Pittston’s many neighborhood shops and grocery stores — including the former Insalaco’s — had everything she needed, and she liked to walk.

And when she didn’t feel like walking, there was always a friend or relative around to give her a lift, her children recalled.

“People would see her, and when she would be overloaded with bags I guess she would accept the ride, let’s put it that way,” Joseph added. “Sometimes she would decline a ride and just want to walk.”

Living independently

Paul Smith died in 1989, but Rosalie remained determined to stay in her own home on River Street, her children said.

With Joseph in New England and Claire in California this was something her children obviously had concerns about. But they also knew there was a support network to look after her.

“The neighbors had our telephone numbers,” Joseph said. “We had cousins and relatives around, and if they were not a relative in some form or fashion, they knew my mother for a long time, and my uncle lived right next door.”

And as Claire recalled, she, her brother and Francie came home to Pittston as often as they could.

Rosalie was functional, but was starting to have short-term memory issues and suffered a fall. Prior to that point she had refused to wear a Life Alert device, and walked up and down stairs to do laundry without a railing, which one of her grandsons finally installed.

“We grew up Sicilian and she was stubborn,” Joseph said. “She didn’t want to be dependent on people or on things.”

At 99, however, Rosalie’s children gently convinced her that it was time to move, and she divided her time between New Hampshire and California.

Even then, however, Rosalie was able to pursue one of her favorite pastimes, shopping for antiques, especially cut glass. She insisted on cleaning the furniture, and would even help Joseph mow the lawn.

“She would always say, ‘I wish I could help you, Joe.’ So I said, okay, here’s the gas mower. And she did it. She enjoyed it.”

A star in Vegas

Rosalie celebrated her 107th birthday with her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other extended family members in Las Vegas last summer.

“It was quite an experience, with a completely unknown woman serenading Rosalie with a song in Spanish during her birthday dinner celebration, and Rosalie receiving an ovation from the other guests dining at the restaurant when her birthday party left,” her obituary stated.

“To top off the evening, while passing the gaming area, an unknown man, upon learning Rosalie had turned 107 years of age, gave her $120, which Rosalie shortly thereafter lost in the slot machines!”

She suffered a case of COVID not long after, but came through with barely any symptoms, Claire recalled.

Rosalie passed away peacefully on March 5, 2023, at her daughter’s home in Palo Alto, Calif., following a brief illness. She was laid to rest beside her husband in Denison Cemetery, Swoyersville

“Our family is so fortunate to have had our mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother for so many years, and we will always have wonderful memories of her to treasure,” her obit stated.

And, Claire added, she definitely would have enjoyed the idea of this story.

“Oh, she would have loved being in the newspaper.”