One hundred years ago, there was no Facebook and no one Twittered.
One hundred years ago, on April 12, Emilia “Millie” Bello was born in the countryside near Naples, Italy.
On Sunday, April 11, City Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley honored Bello with a New York City Council Proclamation to celebrate her 100th birthday, and for her dedication to the Richmond Hill community for the past eight decades.
Bello, the eldest child of Antoinette and Luigi Luongo, joined her father and cousins in New York after a voyage of 18 days with her mother and brother Antonio, before arriving at Ellis Island in 1922.
She worked as a model in a local sweater factory to help support her family before marrying Dominick in 1930. The couple moved to Richmond Hill with their children Nicholas and Marion in 1936. They soon added two more sons, Louis and Albert.
Aside from being a wife and mother, Bello cleaned and cooked for her husband’s Shelton Bar and Grill on 104th Street and Jamaica Avenue during World War II.
She has been an active parishioner of the Church of The Holy Child Jesus for 75 years and a vital member of the Rosary Altar Society for as long. She even met Mother Theresa of Calcutta.
Bello, known as “Grandma Rusty” by her 25 great grandchildren and 15 grandchildren, continues to cook to this day for extended family and neighbors.
