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06/01/2016 08:30 AMAntonina Zummo wanted to be a nun. Then a sailor named Warren Hartmann asked her to dance, and everything changed.
“I was very involved with the church,” says Antonina, known as Ann. “I went to Catholic school and I always intended to be a nun—until I went to a dance at school and a sailor asked me to dance, and that sailor later turned out to be my husband. He won me over, and we had a wonderful life together.”
Ann was born in Sicily in 1933 and immigrated when she was 6 to Brooklyn, where she eventually met Warren, whom she married at 21. The couple lived in southern California to follow Ann’s family, which liked the area’s Sicilian climate, and then Long Island for Warren’s job before settling in Madison in 1974.
They raised seven children (daughters Angela, Joanne, and Tanny; and sons John, Jerry, Tony, and Warren, Jr., a.k.a. “Chiefy”).
“She has been a strong matriarch to our family before and after she lost our father when they were both 54 years old,” says Warren, Jr.
In Madison, Ann helped her husband with his construction business, doing secretarial work during the day when their kids were in school. After Warren, Sr., died, two of Ann’s sons took over the business. Warren, Jr., now runs his own construction business with the same name, Warren J. Hartmann & Co.
Five of Ann’s children still live in Madison, and all but her eldest graduated from Daniel Hand High School. Ann’s 15 grandchildren range in age from 36 to 10. One great-grandchild born just four months ago, Josephine, means there are now four generations of the family living in Madison.
“I’m so thrilled that I lived long enough to see a great-grandchild,” Ann says.
Ann now lives at the Hearth at Tuxis Pond on Bradley Road, where she’s been since January 2014. She enjoys outings during the day with family or on the Tuxis van. With so many members of her family nearby, Ann has lots to do and many activities to attend.
“We were just out today,” says her daughter, Tanny, “and she loved it. She loves seeing the changing seasons.”
Ann adds, “They have a lot of nice programs here. It’s nice to know there’s always something going on or a van ride somewhere to entertain you.”
Starting more than 40 years ago, Ann was part of the Madison Newcomers Club and then its spinoff, Encore, for those who weren’t exactly new to town anymore.
“We were having such a good time, we decided to stay together and call ourselves Encore!” Ann explains. “I was in that for a long time.”
Tanny says, “Mom is technically still in it, but since she moved [to Hearth at Tuxis Pond], she doesn’t go to the meetings.”
Ann was also involved with her church, St. Margaret’s, while her children were growing up.
She’s continued to make connections to communities near and far. She spent two weeks in Italy for her 75th birthday with her daughter Tanny. All of her children chipped in for the trip. The first week was spent in Calabria and the second in Sicily, when she visited relatives in her birthplace of Camporeale.
“It means ‘royal camp,’” Ann says.
For now, Ann is looking forward to great-granddaughter Josephine’s christening on July 17, which is also Ann’s 83rd birthday.
She’s also enjoying the activities at the retirement community, finding fun every day she’s there.
As Ann says, “What’s good about Italians is they like to smile, they love to sing, and they like to have a good time.”
Tanny says, “That exactly sums mom up. She’s the first one to dance when they have parties downstairs.”
“The secret of my life is I try to enjoy each day,” Ann says. “I try not to let things bother me, from the past or yesterday. I have today, I feel it’s a gift from God, so I’m going to enjoy it the best that I can.”