Ex-Clifton tax collector reflects on seven decades of life in borough
CLIFTON HEIGHTS » Last year, after turning 90-years-old, Claudia Fagioli decided to resign from her elected position of borough tax collector, a post the Republican had held for 28 years. The longtime borough resident, who also served on Clifton Heights Borough Council for 12 years, said she is trying to cut back on some of her activities to have more free time to enjoy life’s simple pleasures. She bought a new rocking lounge chair to enjoy some much-deserved R & R time as a “Golden Honorary Member” at Clifton Heights Swim Club, a club that she co-founded along with the late Angelo Facciola and Vince Perfetti, in 1967. She also hopes to spend time at her family’s vacation home in Sea Isle City, N.J., with her three children, Donna, Bruce and Michelle, nine grandchildren, and twelve greatgrandchildren.
In a recent interview, Fagioli was asked if it was difficult being the local tax collector for almost three decades, since few people are over the moon about paying taxes.
“It’s inevitable that taxes have to go up to keep up with expenses and costs,” she answered. “Most people realize this so they didn’t blame me for doing my job. I would always shake my head when someone running for an office would promise not to raise taxes because it is a promise that they can rarely keep.”
Fagioli is chairlady of the Golden Heart Social Club of Clifton Heights. Members meet on the second Tuesday of every month and go to lunch.
“I get together with these friends a lot,” Fagioli explained. “What do old people talk about when they get together? They talk about times past, the good old days!”
Fagioli said the group would always say remarks, such as “We could write a book with these stories” or “Our lives would make a great book.” Fagioli said that she took them up on their advice and began writing. The book, a recap of Fagioli’s life, took nine years to complete and publish, from start to finish. The result is “An Angel on your Pillow,” available through Amazon.com. The book is a recap of her life.
Fagioli said that she needed help with editing of the book, so she reached out to the Swarthmore College Learning For Life Program, which connects staff and students in a mutually beneficial learning project. In the unique program, employees can learn a new language, how to knit, how to write, or any skill that they desire, and in turn, the employees build inter-generational relationships with students who are often from out-of-state. Fagioli, at the time, was working for Swarthmore College in its dining room, a job that she held for 28 years, retiring a decade ago, when she turned 80. Three different Swarthmore students were paired with Fagioli during the nine years that she penned the book.
“I wrote everything out in longhand and the students would edit it and enter it in the computer,” she said.
When she finished the memoir, the author said that she was pleased with how the book turned out and many people have told her that they enjoyed reading it.
In the preface to the book, she wrote, “True stories show that growing old doesn’t mean the end of life. Rather it should be the start of a new age with experience, memories, and looking toward the future.”
Fagioli was born in Eddystone to Russian-American parents, but was raised in Philadelphia. She attended William Penn High School for Girls at Broad and Spring Garden streets. After high school, she became a dancer for the USO and entertained the troops up and down the East Coast during World War II. Her dance troupe was supposed to entertain in Washington, D.C., on the day that President Franklin D. Roosevelt died, she said, but it was cancelled. In 1949, she met her husband Paul, who lived in Clifton Heights, and they married in 1950. They made their home in Clifton Heights, in the house where she still lives today.
“When I first came to Delaware County from the city, I wondered, where in the heck am I?” she laughed at the memory. “But if I like a place, I stay and I always loved Clifton Heights. Even today, it’s still a really good town.”
Her husband of 60 years, Paul Fagioli, worked for Kent Mill, and then for the Muckinipattis Authority in later years. He died in 2000 following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.
“When I first came to Delaware County from the city, I wondered, where in the heck am I? But if I like a place, I stay and I always loved Clifton Heights. Even today, it’s still a really good town.” — Claudia Fagioli
Paul didn’t drive, Fagioli explained, so she was the one who drove the family everywhere. She said her home was always the vibrant hub for family dinners and holiday celebrations.
“My family isn’t perfect, but we always loved each other. Every one of my children and grandchildren is a credit to me and my husband,” she said proudly.
Through the years, she says, she has been involved in almost every activity in the borough. She was the chairwoman of the Clifton Heights Band while her children were in grade school and high school. She started the Mother’s Guild at Sacred Heart Grade School when her children were students there. Fagioli formed Clifton Heights very first swim team in 1962. She served on the Fourth of July committee for “more years than she can remember,” rode in numerous parades, and in 2015, she served as the parade’s grand marshal.
Recently, Fagioli picked up her pen again, to write articles about local longtime family-owned businesses in the borough for The Clifton Quarterly newsletter, published four times a year by her friend, Clifton Heights Councilwoman Leona Papale. The publication, which includes borough news and information, is distributed by the eight council members to residents in all four wards of the borough. Fagioli recently recognized and wrote articles about Mariano Welding and Marella’s Jewelry store, two prominent borough businesses.
“Local business has always helped Clifton Heights thrive,” Fagioli stated. “The borough has been maintained well through the years. It’s an open town where people can just walk up to those in the borough government and ask them questions and tell them their concerns. We have an outstanding police force, led by Chief Tim Rockenbach and a top-notch fire department under the leadership of Clifton Heights Fire Chief Jim Kneass. I got life out of this town. Everything that I need is right here. I know there are a lot of good little towns in Delaware County and we all like our own towns, but Clifton always really was, and still is, an ideal place to live.”
Fagioli, a borough resident for almost 70 years, said that she misses some of the features which the borough had in years past. She still saddens over the loss of the Clifton Heights schools that became a part of Upper Darby School District, losing their local identity. And she feels that some people are not as considerate as they once were, when neighbors would care about and look out for neighbors’ children like when she was raising her own family. She worries that many people in the borough don’t take the time to get to know other residents, a feature that always kept the town closeknit and made it special.
At last, happily retired from pressing obligations, Fagioli hopes “for good health” and plans “not to sweat the small stuff.”
“If we all live by the Golden Rule,” the nonagenarian stated with a knowing smile, “every one of us will be way ahead of the game.”