THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 3, 1995 TAG: 9502010141
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUDITH PARKER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
GREETING THEIR HONOREES with a hand-clapping rendition of the ``Senior Song,'' nearly 100 senior citizens weathered cold and rain Monday to help four Portsmouth women celebrate their induction into the National Nineties Society.
The society, which honors people age 90 or over, is sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department's Senior Citizens Center.
Monday's ceremony was the second year the event was held. In 1994, nine women and one man, including two individuals who were 101 years old, became the society's first members.
The National Nineties Society program is the only one of its kind in the country, said Senior Citizen Center staff member Evelyn Taylor.
``I was driving a SEVAMP van one day and the idea of a program to honor those among us who are 90 years of age or older just came to me,'' Taylor said during Monday's festivities, which included a candlelight induction ceremony followed by a luncheon.
``As the population ages, there will only be a greater urgency to service the needs of the elderly with necessities such as housing, food and companionship.
``But I also strongly believe society must have a greater appreciation for its senior citizens, and all that they have experienced and accomplished,'' Taylor said.
Monday's inductees included 95-year-old Bessie Nixon, 92-year-old Della Spruill, and two 90-year-olds, Anna DiPalma and Edna Williams.
Spruill and Williams were both born on farms in northeastern North Carolina.
``I hated the farm. . . just hated it,'' Spruill said, with no hint of apology. ``It was dirty, and there were mosquitoes and gnats that would just eat you up.''
At age 19, Spruill, the oldest of five children, left her Hertford, N.C., home. Newly married, she and her husband, Edward, moved to Salisbury, Md., where she first worked as a chambermaid, then as a hotel cook, and finally a hairdresser.
Now, twice widowed and childless, Spruill lives alone in Cavalier Manor.
``I go to Shiloh Baptist Church every Sunday,'' she said with a sense of independence.
``My church is the most important thing in my life now.''
Williams grew up in Halifax County, N.C.
``Being raised on a farm, I learned very early on that I could do anything that a man can do in the fields . . . even plowing behind mules.''
That comment brought a collective ``Oh my!'' from her three National Nineties companions.
She came to Portsmouth in 1942 when her second husband, Joseph, got a wartime job at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
``I've seen so many changes in my years,'' she said.
``But I think the best thing that's changed is the way blacks and whites are getting along now. People are mixing more. I think that's better for everybody.''
Wheelchair bound and twice widowed, Williams lives with her daughter in Effingham Plaza.
Bessie Nixon, 95, is the only new member of the National Nineties Society who is Portsmouth born and bred, although there was a 42-year gap while she lived first in Philadelphia and then New York City.
``I went with my mother to Philadelphia when I was 16, and then New York. I guess job opportunities were better for her up there,'' she said.
Nixon worked as a housekeeper and waitress in a variety of tea rooms.
Following her mother's death in 1974, she returned to Portsmouth.
``Why do I think I've lived so long?
``Well, maybe that comes from my father's side . . . he died when he was 95, and was only sick two whole weeks his entire life.
``But I really believe it's because of the most significant influence in my life. I professed my religion when I was 9 years old,'' she said, ``and I'm still a deaconness in my church, Celestial Baptist.''
Childless and twice widowed, she lives in Norcom Park.
Anna Viola DiPalma, the third of 19 children, was born in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1904. Two years later, the family moved to Long Island's Ozone Park where her father operated a construction business.
``I've had a hard life, but a beautiful life,'' DiPalma said, her hands raised with animation.
Dropping out of school in the 7th grade, DiPalma remembers her adolescence and teenage years with some regrets at never having gone to the movies and ``never keeping company with a guy,'' that is, until she met Santolo DiPalma, who had emigrated to the United States from Naples, Italy, in 1920.
``He fell in love with me the first time he saw me,'' she said, smiling broadly.
Their marriage lasted 50 years.
Before coming to Portsmouth in 1961, the couple lived in Portland, Maine, where Santolo DiPalma operated a bar and grocery store. Suffering seven miscarriages, the couple had no children.
When her husband became seriously ill and unable to work, the couple moved to South Hampton Roads to be close to family, which had moved to the area.
As with her fellow inductees, church is important to DiPalma. ``I love my church. It's so beautiful,'' she said.
``When I was growing up, I was a daily communicant. I can't do that now, but I'd never miss Mass on Sunday.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Inducted into the National Nineties Society were, from left: Bessie
Nixon, Della Spruill, Edna Williams and, seated, Anna DiPalma.
by CNB