{"id":98573,"date":"2026-01-13T12:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T12:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/98573\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T12:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T12:48:11","slug":"staten-islander-who-worked-on-the-pt-boat-commanded-by-john-f-kennedy-turns-100-years-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/98573\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Islander who worked on the PT boat commanded by John F. Kennedy turns 100 years old"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Achieving a 100-year milestone is a remarkable accomplishment that places an individual in an elite group of \u201ccentenarians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The milestone presents an opportunity to honor a lifetime of love, dedication and wisdom.<\/p>\n

Oakwood Heights resident Philomena A. Marzo was feted on her 100th birthday last month at a gathering held in LiGreci\u2019s Staaten.<\/p>\n

\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo and her son Joseph Marzo III embrace during Philomena’s 100th birthday party in LiGreci’s Staaten. (Courtesy\/Michael Leto\/Leto Video Productions)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

She emerged as the woman of the hour before some 100 family members and friends.<\/p>\n

A little about Philomena<\/p>\n

The former Philomena Sorrentino made her debut into the world on Dec. 12, 1925, in West Brighton to parents Frances Gagliardi Sorrentino and Alfonse Sorrentino.<\/p>\n

Throughout her life, she took pleasure in sharing her birthday with the Frank Sinatra, who was born exactly 10 years earlier on Dec. 12, 1915.<\/p>\n

\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo during her younger years. (Courtesy\/family photo)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

During her younger years, the family lived together with Philomena\u2019s mother\u2019s father and his sister, Phyllis Sorrentino. <\/p>\n

\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo and her sons, Joseph Marzo III and Richard Marzo. (Courtesy\/family photo)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

True to their Catholic upbringing, the family attended mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Benedicta R.C. Church in their home community.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Marzo recounted that her dad \u2014 who they called Al \u2014 was the owner of a deli on Richmond Terrace, in addition to being the owner of an ice cream truck.<\/p>\n

\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo smiles with her sons Richard and Joseph Marzo III. (Courtesy\/family photo)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

She recalls neighbors, upon hearing the truck come up the street, would always call out, \u201cHere comes Al!\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that as far as she knows, he was the first man to make lemon ice on Staten Island and sell it on a truck, as well as to delicatessens.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Marzo attended PS 18 in West Brighton, where she graduated with top honors and was awarded the American Legion Medal.<\/p>\n

Later, during the commencement exercises at Curtis High School in 1943, she was once again presented with honors when she received the Spanish Foreign Language Medal.<\/p>\n

After graduation, she held a position at Elco Works (Electric Boat Company), a boat slip rental facility in Bayonne, where she was trained to be an electrician.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked on the PT boats as an electrician,\u201d she told us. \u201cThey ran the plumbing through the boats for communication. I took the ferry in Port Richmond to the Elco Marine Base where they built PT boats and the PT-109,\u201d she said in referring to the famous Patrol Torpedo boat commanded by John F. Kennedy in the Pacific during World War II. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy job was to secure all wires, so they could take notations from the homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mrs. Marzo would marry Joseph Marzo Jr., a U.S. Marine who saw significant action in the Marshall Islands and the broader Pacific Theater \u2014 between Hawaii and The Philippines \u2014 during World War II.<\/p>\n

\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo, third from left, with her son, Joseph Marzo, III, third from right, and family members and friends. (Courtesy\/Michael Leto\/Leto Video Productions)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

The couple would became the parents of Joseph Marzo III and Richard A. Marzo.<\/p>\n

\"Marzo\"“Just Friends” performs. Richard Marzo, Mrs. Marzo’s son, is at right. (Courtesy\/Michael Leto\/Leto Video Productions)Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

Richard, who\u2019s a member of the singing group Just Friends, who perform classic hits from the \u201950s, \u201960s, and \u201970s, along with original songs written by Marzo, entertained during the party.<\/p>\n

Eight grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren complete the family circle.<\/p>\n

\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo, in green, surrounded by family members on the occasion of her 90th birthday in LiGreci’s Staaten. (Courtesy\/family photo)Staten Island Advance\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo takes a selfie during her party. (Courtesy\/Michael Leto\/Leto Video Productions)Staten Island Advance\"Marzo\"Philomena Marzo poses with well wishers during her party. (Courtesy\/Michael Leto\/Leto Video Productions)Staten Island AdvanceMore on Mrs. Marzo<\/p>\n

At the age of 40, Mrs. Marzo became enrolled in the former Richmond College (now the College of Staten Island) where she earned both a bachelor of arts degree and a master of arts degree in education.<\/p>\n

She taught fifth grade with Spanish enrichment at PS 54 in Westerleigh for 25 years, having retired at the age of 65.<\/p>\n

The Marzo\u2019s were politically involved in the election of the late Borough President Ralph Lamberti, who was a cousin of Philomena.<\/p>\n

Throughout the years the Marzo\u2019s were community connected, having membership in several local organizations.<\/p>\n

To this day, Marzo has a number of friends at the Great Kills Friendship Club and still resides in her own home.<\/p>\n

When queried about her recipe for longevity she responded:<\/p>\n

\u201cBring involved in your community and in your neighborhood. Do the best you can with friends, and continue to keep active.\u201d She noted that she\u2019s always indulged in the good Italian-American diet filled with fresh food including vegetables and fresh fruit.<\/p>\n

She occasionally had a drink at a party – but never smoked cigarettes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was born on Staten island and lived all my life on Staten Island and I love Staten Island,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt\u2019s more of a private borough. And I lived on Richmond Terrace for 40 years and then moved to Oakwood in 1964 \u2014 in one of the first all electric homes on Staten Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happy 100th birthday, Philomena!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Achieving a 100-year milestone is a remarkable accomplishment that places an individual in an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-98573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}