The Kaplan Hospice Family Residence in Newburgh celebrated a special birthday on September 21: Ange Cole, a former Suffolk County resident who recently moved to Orange County and turned 100 years old. Throughout the century, Cole touched the lives of countless people, whether as a mother and wife who adored her family, a wonderful friend who always maintained high spirits, a sharp sewer with a knack for needles, or an excellent chef who fed her neighborhood.

Cole was born on September 21, 1924, in Sag Harbor, a village in Suffolk County, Long Island. She is the daughter of Vitali and Antonina Cilli, a late couple originally from Italy. During her childhood and adolescence, Cole was raised in the Cove Side Dairy, her parents’ farm, and attended Pierson High School.

“My grandparents came from Italy, they met in New York, settled in the Village of Sag Harbor, and started a dairy farm, the Cove Side Dairy. My mother’s parents were the classic hard-working farmers,” said Debbie DeJesus, Cole’s daughter. “The story goes that my mother was almost born in the barn; her mother was working right up until the minute she was born.”

In the early 1940s, Cole worked for a Bulova factory in Sag Harbor during World War II. Bulova, while normally a watch manufacturer, was contracted to make timing devices and other military equipment around this time, and many women took over for the workers serving in the war. While working under Bulova, Cole befriended Mildred Blydenburgh, her future sister-in-law, and eventually met her brother, Clayton M. Cole, a late WWII Marine. Cole and Clayton wrote letters to each other while Clayton served in the U.S. Marines, and the two married on June 9, 1946, after he returned home.

“When she worked at the factory, she sat next to a woman who was going to become her sister-in-law, but at that time they became friends. This woman’s brother was in the Marines,” DeJesus said. “Ange’s coworker asked ‘Did you want to write to my brother? He’s in the Marines.’ So my mother sent letters to him and he wrote back to her, although they had never seen or spoken to each other. After the war, they met in person and got married.”

The Coles settled in Sag Harbor and expanded their family with five children: Debbie, Robert, John, Dennis, and Michael. As a homemaker, she was dedicated to supporting her husband and children however she could, always staying positive and tenacious with a smile. Cole has applied this attitude throughout the years up to the present day, whether she adapted to a century’s worth of advancements in technology or fought off illnesses over the last several months.

“She is an amazing mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and relative to many. A woman of tremendous love, positive thinking, perseverance, and hard work, who taught us to never give up and always look up,” DeJesus said. “She managed to successfully raise a family and be a loving wife and mother throughout her marriage when my father had a disability for most of his adulthood.”

“It’s also interesting that she’s been sick now for months and not one complaint from her, she added. “She’s just amazing, cute, sweet, appreciative, and loving.”

Cole’s hobbies, known as “All Things Ange,” include sewing, crocheting, needlepoint, and summer fun. She loves visiting the Morton Wildlife Refuge in Suffolk County and anywhere she can watch sunsets over the Atlantic Ocean. She also enjoyed cooking and shared her signature dishes with her neighbors in Sag Harbor, including potatoes with green beans, strawberry pies, and fried pizza dough.

“The fried dough was her mother’s recipe from Italy. For most weekends, my mother took the fried pizza dough to carnivals,” DeJesus said. “Or the neighborhood children would come over to our house and eat the fried pizza dough with us.”

One of DeJesus’ fondest memories with her mother was watching her sew doll clothes on a treadle machine, which DeJesus kept to this day.

“I remember watching her sew my doll clothes on the singer treadle machine looking over the backyard, and I was absolutely amazed at how she could make these tiny doll clothes that were so beautiful,” she recounted. “I still have the dolls and the clothes all these years later. They’re still in good condition, so she made them to last.”

For Cole’s 100th birthday, friends and family from Long Island and Walden, as well as the Kaplan Hospice staff, threw a huge party and celebrated her life and their memories with her. Cole was thrilled with the outpour from the party and everyone involved were grateful to be part of Cole’s life.

“The party was amazing, it was filled with family members, friends, neighors, staff members from Kaplan Hospice,” DeJesus said. “My mother felt the love and joy from everyone who attended, and she was the gift in everyone’s lives.