Ex-seamstress Marieanna Simone dies at 109

Marieanna Gaetani Simone, a professional seamstress who was born in Sicily more than a century ago and spent most of her life in Laurelton, Queens, died March 3 in Apopka, Fla.

She was 109.

Simone, who did piecework at home, also sewed habits for nuns at St. Clare's Parish in Rosedale, the family said.

As a member of the parish's Sacred Heart of Jesus and Altar societies, she helped clean the church in her spare time.

According to family lore, Simone's family in Italy made a fortune in sulfur in the late 19th century but lost it all when a fire destroyed the mines.

By 1921, when her father brought her to America through Ellis Island, he had $50 in his pocket. Simone was 19.

"She asked her father to send her to school," said her daughter, Josephine D'Aiuto, of Apopka. "He found out it was co-ed, and he wouldn't send her."

SEE PHOTOSNotable deaths: Long Islanders we recently lost

Simone found work as a weaver at a rug factory in Connecticut. When it closed, she became a seamstress in New York City, making as much as $100 a week -- good money in those days. She faithfully sent a portion of her earnings back to family in Sicily.

She specialized in women's attire, D'Aiuto said, and had a knack for design.

"One time, I remember, I saw a coat I really liked," she said. "She looked at it, designed it on paper and made her own pattern."

Simone and her husband of about 50 years, Leonard, raised six children in Laurelton.

Her retirement was long and active. Having taught herself to read as a young woman, she kept up with Italian newspapers and books.

In New York, she lunched regularly with friends from church. In Apopka, where she settled later in life, she took walks and assisted with household chores until she was almost 100.

D'Aiuto attributed her mother's longevity to good genes, healthy eating and powerful faith.

"She used to do the rosaries two or three times a day," she said.

Simone was predeceased by her husband and one son, Leonard. She is survived by five children -- sons Angelo, Frank and Richard Simone, and daughters D'Aiuto and Carmela Berringer -- and 14 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.

She was buried Monday at Pinelawn Memorial Park.