Emma Pughielli turned 105 on May 23, celebrating with her family and a cake in a quiet ceremony that has come to define her later years, which has centered on being together with the people she loves most.
The birthday milestone did not include large crowds or elaborate plans — just her at her house in Calverton surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who gathered to share time together with a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.
“She was happy just seeing my kids,” her grandson, John Frascella, said. “That was really all she needed.”
Pughielli, a longtime Franklin Square resident who now lives in Calverton, was born in the Bronx in 1921 and has lived through more than a century of American life. But her family said she doesn’t often look back on history as big, defining events, but instead focuses on the everyday parts of life.
Instead, they describe a woman who focuses on family, meals, phone calls, holidays and simply being present.
Frascella said her presence has always been the constant in the family.
“It means everything to us,” he said about the major milestone. He described how many people in the community know their family and often ask about her, noting that 105 has become an inspiration to many.
She’s been described as “never really overdoing it” — not just in terms of diet, but in how she lived her life, as Frascella put it.
For decades, Pughielli was the center of family life, especially during Thanksgiving, when relatives traveled from across the country to gather at her home. The house would fill with food, conversation and children running in and out — traditions that her family members still talk about today.
Even in her earlier years, she kept up a lifestyle that her family said contributed to her good health and long life. She bowled in local leagues well into her 60s and 70s, collecting trophies that adorned the shelves of her home. She also knitted and crocheted blankets and quilts for family members, continuing that hobby until the age of about 100.
Frascella said she also worked for a sports card company during the early days of the industry, when now-valuable collectibles like Mickey Mantle rookie cards were just part of the everyday business.
But what stands out most to her family is not any one job or hobby — it’s her outlook on life.
Even now, they said she remains sharp, quick to recognize relatives and still capable of humor that catches people off guard. During a recent visit, Frascella said she was laughing with family as they helped her get ready for bed, insisting she could manage things on her own.
“She was just laughing, you know, like still with the personality,” he said.
Over the years, one phrase from Pughielli has become a kind of family motto — a piece of advice she often repeats: “I complain, but who would listen?”
Frascella said it reflects the way she views life.
He described it as her philosophy, and said that when he thinks about situations and looks for guidance, the first thing that comes to mind is, “What would Nana say? And that, for some reason,” Frascella said, “it was her thinking. She would laugh, of course, like she is a jokester.”
Her granddaughter, Melissa Chipman, described her grandmother as a constant presence throughout her life, someone who always seemed unchanged by age. She said Pughielli spent years traveling, crocheting items for children in hospitals, running local crochet groups, attending family events and cooking for holidays, remaining deeply involved in family life for decades.
“She has made an impact on so many people and all the years that she's been on this earth,” she said.
Chipman added that even as those activities became harder in later years, her grandmother remained the same steady figure who had always anchored the family. She added that Pughielli has long been viewed as the family matriarch, with others now helping to take on responsibilities as she has grown older.
She said Pughielli’s influence extends beyond the immediate family, noting that she is widely loved by those who know her and has left a lasting impression on many people throughout her life.
As the family has grown, including several great-grandchildren who have been born since she turned 100, they say she still finds joy in each new generation.
Frascella said that sense of purpose is what defines her most.
“You can’t be complaining all the time, you got to be accomplishing something,” he said of how she dedicates living her life to her fullest still at 105. “I think that is an important lesson from Nana.”
