‘GOD PUT ME HERE’

Sanatoga resident, a veteran of two pandemics, turns 102

LOWER POTTSGROVE » There aren’t too many “veterans” of global pandemics, but one of them lives off Evergreen Road.

Dorothy Cassell, known to nearly everyone in Sanatoga Center as “Dot,” massed the 102-year mile marker on Wednesday and got a present most of us have yearned for more than a year — a hug from a close relative.

Cassell’s sister Mary Jackson, who resides in Douglassville, doesn’t live too far away but for the past year, it might as well have been on the other side of

the world.

Social distancing restrictions have meant no closer than six feet and no physical contact — until now.

According to the latest update from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “We acknowledge the toll that separation and isolation has taken. We also acknowledge that there is no substitute for physical contact, such as the warm embrace between a resident and their loved one. Therefore, if the resident is fullyvaccinated, they can choose to have close contact (including touch) with their visitor while wearing a wellfitting face mask and performing hand hygiene before and after.”

“I’m very grateful,” said Mary when she was informed she could hug her sister for her birthday.

Cassell, who was born in 1919, said she was born after the start of the pandemic of 1918, but that disaster actually lasted until April of 1920.

It infected 500 million people — about a third of the world’s population at the time — in four successive waves.

Cassell was born in Spring Mount to Charles and Carrie Roshong, one of seven children.

The middle child, Cassell and her sister are the only two siblings remaining.

Cassell’s husband, Arthur, died at age 89, and Donald, her only child, died 11 years ago. She has four grandchildren.

Asked the secret of her longevity, Cassell, who was a treasurer for the Order of the Eastern Star, said simply “God put me here.”

Although a fan of jazz music, Cassell said she never mastered the Jitterbug.

Neither, he admitted, has state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist.

Ciresi was on hand for

Cassell’s birthday festivities Wednesday and said the Pennsylvania Legislature had provided her with an official citation on the occasion of her 100th birthday and was being a bit stingy about offering another.

So Ciresi provided one of his own, noting as far as he’s concerned, once you pass 100, you should get one every year.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Dorothy “Dot” Cassell celebrated her 102nd birthday at Sanatoga Court Wednesday. Born during the Spanish Flu pandemic, Cassel has now survived the COVID-19pandemic.

EVAN BRANDT — MEDIANEWS GROUP Dorothy Cassel, left, enjoys a cake and a visit from her sister Mary Jackson at Sanatoga Court on the occasion of her 102nd birthday.

EVAN BRANDT — MEDIANEWS GROUP State Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist., presented Dorothy Cassel with a an official House of Representatives proclamation for her 102nd birthday.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Because Dorothy Cassel is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, she was permitted to get a hug from her sister Mary Jackson on Wednesday, which was Cassel’s 102nd birthday.