BIOGRAPHY

Rose Cifalde was born in Youngstown, Ohio, USA, on 3 September 1903, as the second of nine children born to Anthony Anzivino and Mary Grace DeCarlo. She had three brothers: Rocco, Frank, and Joseph, and five sisters: Mary Andio, Laura Cefalde, Grace DelRose, Betty Billet, and Carmel Colangelo. Although her family moved to Connecticut for a few years, they returned to Ohio when she was a teenager. At the age of 14, she got her first job in a men’s hosiery factory and continued to work there until she turned 20. She also worked in her father’s Brier Hill grocery store until the age of 20.

On 24 August 1924, she married Carmen Cifalde, a family friend. The couple were engaged for a year but always had to have a chaperone (typically a family member) whenever they went out. The couple had four children: Anthony, William, John, and Mary Grace.

Upon the deaths of her sister and brother-in-law within a year of each other, leaving their seven children, five of whom were under 12, without parents, she took on the responsibility of caring for all ten children, both her own and her sister’s. She lived with them for five years.

In her 50s, she got a job at Youngstown College (now Youngstown State University). She was widowed in 1980. Her son John died in 2001, and her son William died in 2007.

Cifalde passed away in Hubbard, Ohio, USA, on 7 April 2014, at the age of 110 years, 216 days. She was survived by her son Anthony, daughter Mary Grace, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

RECOGNITION

Her age was verified by Stefan Maglov and Jimmy Lindberg, and validated by LongeviQuest on 12 March 2024.

ATTRIBUTION

* Rose M Anzivino Cifalde – Find A Grave

* “A Century Plus Ten” – The Vindicator, 3 September 2013

* Rose M Cifalde – Stewart-Kyle Funeral Home, April 2014

GALLERY

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