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04/05/2023 09:00 AMIf there’s a secret to reaching 105 years of age, Marie Streeto hasn’t discovered it yet.
“I just take every day. That’s it. You don’t think of what year it is or anything; you just accept whatever you get. That’s it,” Marie says. “I’m very fortunate. I’m not lying in bed. So I accept whatever I get and do what I can with it.”
Marie turned 105 on March 21. She celebrated with a big cake and a visit from Mayor Joseph Carfora.
On a typical day, though, Marie enjoys doing housework in her apartment in East Farm Village.
“I’ve got to keep my house up; I can’t let it get sloppy and dirty,” Marie says. “You have to get up and move around, do what you have to do. Keep your house up. I can’t stand a sloppy house.”
She enjoys keeping busy every day because “I can’t just sit,” she says. “It’s not good to just sit. You have to do something. That’s when you fall away when you don’t do anything.”
Marie emphasizes the importance of being active, and part of that belief makes her a fixture at many East Farm Village events. She enjoys food events such as happy hours and breakfasts. She says she doesn’t have a particular favorite event but enjoys any occasion to keep active and talk with people.
“I go to everything! Whatever they have, I try to go,” Marie says.
Marie has lived at East Farm Village for 25 years. She has been a resident of East Haven since the 1940s, long before she moved into her aesthetically bright and well-organized apartment. She was born and raised on Chatham Street in the Fair Haven neighborhood of New Haven, where she says she had a normal childhood. She graduated from St. Francis grammar school and is the school’s oldest living graduate. A certificate attesting to the fact hangs on her wall adjacent to her television.
Her strong belief in keeping active led her to being a prominent member of her church, St. Vincent De Paul Church.
“I have to have religion, even if I can’t get there.”
If she cannot attend her place of worship, she will watch a Mass on her television. Marie was the president of the Ladies’ Guild at St. Vincent twice, the second time up to her 80s.
“We had meetings; we had fairs to raise money,” she says. Marie says she counted the money raised at Ladies’ Guild events.
Her talents in money were obvious, having worked at Second National Bank of New Haven. She worked on the floor to count money, open accounts, and make deposits. She always enjoyed her work and recognizes the importance of being good with money.
Marie formed many friendships as a result of her constant activity, as socializing with others is another fixture in her life. Marie moved to East Haven with her husband in 1940, and she always had people over at her house.
“I always had a lot of friends. I like people,” Marie says. “It doesn’t make any difference who we are, what you are. You have to like people.”
Throughout her experiences and participation in various places, Marie states very simply what makes her the person she has also been.
“I’ve been very active, and I like it,” she says. “I always took part. I like to be involved. I just take every day, I try to do the best that I can.”