Three centenarians made yarn, steel and mirrors

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After working for years in yarn and fabric mills, Anne Krayniak Bucceri should have been tired of those materials. Instead, she excelled at knitting and other crafts.

Mrs. Bucceri, who turned 100 recently, was born June 6, 1918, in Passaic, N.J. She worked nearby at Botany Mills, where she made yarn, and J.P. Stevens & Co., where she tested fabric in the laboratory.

On May 18, 1941, she married Sam Bucceri and they had two children: Linda Danwalder of Evans City and Dennis of Alexandria, Va. She lives at Concordia of Franklin Park Personal Care and has four grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren.

Her advice for longevity: “Use your brain, work hard, eat healthy and keep God at the forefront.” Golden birthday If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a Golden Delicious apple must be even better. Paul Panach eats one daily and turned 100 in June.

Mr. Panach, who lives at Concordia at Cabot Personal Care, is a former steelworker and carpenter who built his own house.

He was born June 12, 1918, in Natrona Heights and continued to live there until he moved to Concordia earlier this year. He served as a staff sergeant in the Army and worked in the stamping department and the furnaces at Allegheny Ludlum Steel.

On Sept. 7, 1948, he married Dorothy Augustine, and they had four children – David Keith and Kevin Panach, all of Natrona Heights, and Jane Jones.

Mr. Panach loved golf and was famous for his rose garden. He has seven grandchildren and two great-grandsons, some of whom celebrated with him in the porch lounge at Lund Care Center at Concordia.

Animal lover turns 100

Eleanor “Lee” Baker can’t keep cats and dogs at Concordia of Monroeville, but she is often surrounded by them. That’s because her family bring their pets to visit, and she has a collection of ceramic cats.

Mrs. Baker, who turned 100 on June 25, lived on the North Side for many years. She and her late husband, Ernest, did not have any children, but she is close to several nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Baker, who likes to be called Lee, worked in a mirror factory and loved to fish with her husband. She celebrated her birthday with residents and staff at Concordia’s activity center.