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Woman celebrates 100-year milestone

By BETSY BOLGER-PAULET
Published October 4, 2006

Theresa "Terry" Tedone Cosco enjoyed a special birthday party Sept. 30 at Mease Continuing Care. She was surrounded by fellow residents and staff members, and family members who came from out of state to help her celebrate reaching the century mark.

She was born in Hazleton, Pa., on Sept. 30, 1906, the fifth of 11 children born to Josephine and Angelo Tedone, who sailed to this country in 1901 from Naples, Italy.

Angelo Tedone was a real estate salesman and Josephine a homemaker. The family was active in the local Presbyterian Church, where all the girls in the family sang in the choir.

The Tedone family was known for its remarkable garden, which included roses and a large vegetable section.

In 1928, Terry married Joe Cosco, a self-employed tailor, and she assisted him as a seamstress.

For the next 19 years the Coscos worked side by side. Then, in 1947, tragedy hit the family when Joe contracted pneumonia and never recovered. To make things worse, within six months of her husband's passing, their only son died of pneumonia.

After those losses, Terry sold the tailoring shop and moved to California to be near family.

Later, she moved to Brooklyn, where she received her education as a licensed practical nurse and then worked in elderly care.

Always one to enjoy the beach, when Terry retired from nursing at 62, she took herself to Hialeah, where two of her brothers and a sister were living.

She moved in with her sister, Eva, and then the two women came to this area and moved into Mease Continuing Care in January 2004.

The sisters had lived together 35 years when Eva passed.

Her "baby brother" Anthony, 96, lives in an assisted living facility in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Terry has always enjoyed life and working hard, and has kept close with her family through the years.

She has 11 nieces and nephews, several of whom were among her guests at the milestone birthday party.

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Couples celebrate decades

Merilyn and Merwyn Hassell, longtime residents of Clearwater and owners of Hassell Florist on Drew Street since 1959, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a family cruise to Hawaii, followed by an open house at their home. They were married Aug. 11, 1956, in Richmond Hill, N.Y.

After graduating from college, the Hassells came here the following year from Quincy, Mass.

For five years, Merilyn taught school at Kings Highway Elementary School and then joined Merwyn at Hassell Florist, which he first opened in 1959.

Neither have officially retired - both still work occasionally at the flower shop - but they most enjoy traveling throughout the country and abroad. They have three children and six grandchildren.

* * *

Marjorie and Richard Parvin, of Clearwater celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last month at the Gatlinburg Inn in Gatlinburg, Tenn. They were in Room 242, the same room in which they spent part of their honeymoon in 1946. The couple earlier celebrated their 60th anniversary with a trip in May that included a cruise through the Inland Passageway of Alaska and a car tour through the Pacific Northwest.

The Parvins were married Sept. 15, 1946, in Washington, D.C., and came to Clearwater in 1957, when Richard, a Bradenton native and graduate of Auburn University, was the first engineer hired for the new Honeywell plant in St. Petersburg.

Later, he was president of Navigate, an engineering company.

Richard was a B-24 bomber pilot with the Army Air Forces during World War II, and in 1948-49, he flew in the Pacific as an Air Force pilot.

Marjorie graduated from the University of Tennessee and earned a master's degree from Florida State University in 1975. She was head teacher at Peace Memorial Child Development Center and a teacher at Jolly Time Nursery School.

She also worked as a cooking instructor in the Pinellas County schools adult education program and for the last 13 years has been a senior tax adviser at H&R Block.

The Parvins are members of the Tampa Bay Computer Society and Skycrest United Methodist Church, where Richard is president of the Methodist Men and former chairman of the sanctuary building committee. They have three children and six grandchildren.

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For information or an anniversary or birthday form, call 727 445-4109 and leave name fax number, or e-mail or mailing address. To submit an item, write to Betsy Bolger-Paulet, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756; fax to (727) 441-4119; e-mail paulet@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 3, 2006, 22:40:47]