For a recent project in her second grade class, representing the first 100 days of the school year, seven-year-old Adrianna Laskowski was asked to bring something to school that represented the number 100.
So little Adrianna did the easiest thing she knew that had the number 100 attached to it. She brought her great-grandmother.
North Bergen resident Marie Remmig turned 100 Wednesday afternoon, but you would never know it, based on her quick wit and incredible energy.
“Oh, I get tired every so often,” Remmig laughed.
But if anyone witnessed the spunk and the spirit in which Remmig carried herself at her 100th birthday party at the Cullum Apartments, where Remmig has resided since the building opened in 1973, you wouldn’t know that she has lived for an entire century.
“Being 100 is better than being wanted, I guess,” Remmig said. “Everyone is amazed by the way I am. God has been very good to me that I’ve been able to live so long.”
Remmig was born in the Netherlands and was raised in a town called Haarlem.
“But it was nothing like the one here,” she said. “I’ve never been to Harlem here and I don’t plan on going.”
She came to the United States when she was 19 years old and settled with her husband, Leo, in Hoboken. While Leo Remmig was a baker for two different bread companies for more than 40 years, Marie was a housewife and part-time house cleaner for several prominent Hoboken families.
“I’m proud to say that I was in this country two days and I was already learning to speak English,” Remmig said. “My father took me to night school to learn.”
But Remmig said that she was always busy raising her three children, daughters Petronella and Lamberta and son Leo, Jr., a former employee in the North Bergen Department of Public Works.
“I spent most of my time with my kids,” Remmig said. “That’s why they love me.”
The Remmigs lived in Hoboken for 48 years, then lived for a while in Jersey City, before Leo passed away in 1966.
“I’ve been a widow for 38 years,” Remmig said. “I didn’t need to find anyone else.”
She was able to become one of the first residents of the Cullum Senior Apartments in North Bergen on Grand Avenue when the building first opened 31 years ago. She still remains active in local senior citizens’ groups, including the one in her building, as well as St. Ann’s in Jersey City.
In fact, Wednesday’s celebration at the Cullum Apartments was the second 100th birthday party Remmig has enjoyed. She had a party in her honor with the St. Ann’s group last week and next month, her entire family – with some members even coming from the Netherlands – will convene at the Grand Chalet in Wayne for a big party.
“Thank God my kids are all healthy, too,” Remmig said. “I have three children already on Social Security. I think we’re breaking the bank on Social Security. I have three children, nine grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. That’s why I live alone. If I lived with them, it would be too crowded. But I get to see them all the time.”
Many of her family members were on hand for the celebration Wednesday, along with North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco and Housing Authority Director Diane Pierano-Ingvaldsen. Sacco presented Remmig with a proclamation, honoring her on the centennial birthday celebration.
“I think it’s remarkable to have someone like Mrs. Remmig who has been able to have longevity, but to maintain a quality of life,” Sacco said. “She continues to enjoy an active life. She’s intelligent, alert, active. She’s truly a remarkable woman. This is an event that I truly enjoy.”
The secret
So what are the keys to living 100 years?
Remmig’s granddaughter, Lamberta San Filippo, seems to think it’s her grandmother’s approach to life.
“She has a very good outlook on life,” San Filippo said. “Whatever happens, she accepts it. She doesn’t get bothered by things. And that’s a big thing.”
Remmig said that she has never smoked or drank.
“I’ve never eaten a piece of garlic in my life,” Remmig said. “And tomatoes. I never liked them. I have very plain living and I eat very plain food. A doctor once asked me what my secret was, and I didn’t even know. I just live.”
What are some of the best things she’s seen in advancement over 100 years?
“Plumbing and electricity,” she said. “Those are two of the biggest changes. I never owned a car. We never needed one. In Hoboken, the butcher was around the corner and the grocer was two blocks away. What do you need a car for?”
Remmig said that she was so pleased to see so many people come to her birthday celebration.
“I was surprised with how many people came,” Remmig said. “I’m just really overwhelmed by it all. I’m friends with everyone and get along with everyone, but I never expected this. I don’t feel like I’m 100. I have no idea where the time went.”
Time sure flies when you’re having fun for a century.