June 3, 2024 (Cheektowaga, NY) ─ Born on May 15, 1924 during a leap year, Helen Panera Sciolino recently marked her 100th birthday surrounded by her friends and family, celebrating the momentous occasion with cake, punch, and music by her favorite singer, Tony Bennett at Glenwell, a DePaul Senior Living Community in Cheektowaga.

Helen was raised and spent most of her life on Buffalo’s West side. Raised with four brothers and three sisters, she remembers her sisters playing a big part in her upbringing. She met her future husband Frank Sciolino at the Richmond Hotel where she worked as a “salad girl” and he was a bellhop. They enjoyed a simple wedding at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on July 3, 1946 in which Helen wore her grandmother’s dress. She and Frank had two sons, Tom and Bill, one grandson who is now 43, and she laughingly reports that she has a “great-grand-cat.”

Helen’s darkest day came in 1968, when she lost her husband to a sudden aneurysm. Frank was only 53, and Helen just 42. She doesn’t hesitate to say “My sons got me through that.”

Tom and Bill praise what a practical and sensible woman their mother has always been. She always kept the family budget organized by designating money in different envelopes for each bill and every family need. Among Helen’s many jobs, she recounts serving as a crossing guard in Kenmore. After watching a whole group of children grow up, she went on to serve their children as well, ushering two whole generations to safety.

In addition to her boys, she said, one of the things she’s most proud of is quitting smoking 60 years ago, a decision she credits with helping her live to see 100. When asked about the biggest changes she’s observed over the last century is the loss of community systems where neighbors were close and couples went out together regularly for dancing, dining, bingo, bowling and casino trips.

For more information about Glenwell, please contact Administrator Tina Hagen or Marketing Director Stacy Jasinski at (716) 608-7000. Tina can also be reached at thagen@depaul.org and Stacy can be reached at sjasinski@depaul.org. You can also visit Glenwell on Facebook.