By Nicole Falco
That was back in 1969. Today, Scuderi is 100-years-old and says he has the blood pressure of a young man. The only medication Scuderi takes is eye drops.
Scuderi was born in Linguagrossa, Sicily, on Feb. 10, 1902. Translated, Linguagrossa means "large tongue." Scuderi arrived in New York City two years later. He actually remembers the boat ride across the Atlantic Ocean that he took to come here.
Scuderi, his sisters, Vera and Kate, and parents, Santi and Francesca, lived in a tenement house in downtown Manhattan. Scuderi can recall the terrible fires that often plagued tenement houses at the turn of the century.
In his 100 years, Scuderi has lived through numerous life-altering events. He has seen cars become a staple of American society and noted that manufacturers don't make cars to last anymore. Scuderi watched television broadcasts of man walking on the moon and airplanes fly across oceans and continents, but didn't fly in an airplane until he was 60. He's lived through at least six major wars or conflicts with United States involvement, but was either too young or too old to fight in them. Scuderi has lived through all 19 modern day winter Olympics, the Great Depression, the invention of the television, computers and the Internet, 18 United States presidents - John F. Kennedy was his favorite - and so much more.
One highlight in Scuderi's personal life was playing trombone in the vaudeville houses of New York alongside the legendary Bob Hope. Scuderi began playing in vaudeville at 18 and continued playing throughout New York and Canada with the Creatore Band for 20 years.
"Vaudeville houses were closing right and left. They began showing only films," Scuderi said. "[Besides] I got married and I didn't like traveling all over. Being a musician, I was busy seven days a week."
Scuderi married in 1941 and had two children, Fran and John. The Scuderis, his wife Sarah, and their children lived in Jackson Heights, Queens. Soon after he married, Scuderi worked as a hairdresser and opened his own shop, La Model in Manhattan. He owned La Model for seven years before selling it and going to work for Bloomingdale's.
Up until he was 96-years-old, Scuderi could be seen gardening and cutting the grass around his North Valley Stream home. Scuderi moved to Valley Stream in the 1970s. Last Christmas, Scuderi was overcome with the urge to get up and dance. Dancing was one of the many things he and his wife enjoyed until her death in 1993.
Scuderi attributes his long life to moderation. "I don't remember having liquor until I was 33-years-old at a wedding," Scuderi said, although he had already tasted wine.
"He's always done everything in moderation," said his daughter, Fran.
Scuderi said, "Lead a clean life with moderation in everything from eating to working."
Today, Scuderi may be a little slower than he once was, but he still gets around.
"My hands feel itchy sometimes because I like to do what I want to, but can't," Scuderi said. He added that his favorite era was the 1920s and '30s because "everything was going smoothly, people were enjoying themselves and you didn't have to worry about anything."
Scuderi officially celebrated his 100th birthday at Fran's Valley Stream home with family and friends on Saturday.
