June 30, 2021 (North Tonawanda, NY) ─ The trick to longevity according to Wheatfield Commons centenarian Howard Biondi is “everything in moderation but prayer.”

“Don’t eat too much, don’t drink too much and go to church on Sunday,” is his secret!

Howard was raised on the east side of Buffalo. One of eight children, he paid attention to everything his father did, including his father’s wine making abilities. As an adult, he purchased grinders and barrels, and acquired grapes from the Clinton Market in Buffalo to make his own!

Howard attended School No. 6 and Hutchinson Technical High School, dropping out of school as a junior to travel to California to fight forest fires with the Civilian Conservation Corps, later working in a butcher shop on South Division Street, the same street he grew up on.

In 1943, he was drafted into the Army during World War II. He served three years in New Guinea and the Philippines as a technician fourth grade, with the 496^th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion.

After returning from World War II, Biondi worked for A&P for 30 years as meat manager, cutting meat for a small shop after he retired. He also took up golf and served as president of Grover Cleveland Golf Course. One of his proudest accomplishments was winning a championship golfing with the Buffalo Golf Club.

His wife, Theresa Marianccio, who he knew since they were children, passed away in 1984 from breast cancer. The couple had three children together.

Howard refers to his home at Wheatfield Commons, a DePaul Senior Living Community in North Tonawanda, as “the country club” because they “cut no corners.”

“I never wanted to brood over things,” he said in a Stories of Hope article published recently in the Buffalo News about Howard. “You look for the good things. You don’t look for the bad things. Try to be happy, try to be good and don’t take advantage of people.”

For more information about Wheatfield Commons, please contact Administrator Kathy Hyland-Dion at (716) 475-7600, at khyland@depaul.org or visit us on Facebook.