Mary Papilon celebrates her 109th birthday at Day Haven Adult Day Care in Ronkonkoma

As the well-known nursery rhyme says, "Thursday’s child has far to go," and perhaps nobody exemplifies this better than Lake Ronkonkoma resident Mary Papilon, who will be turning 109 on Sunday.

Papilon was born in the Bronx to Italian immigrants on Thursday, Aug. 3, 1916, midway through World War I.

The great-great grandmother, who now resides in the Brookwood on the Lake Apartments for Seniors, celebrated her birthday Friday at the Day Haven Adult Day Care in Ronkonkoma.

Regina Giglio, Papilon’s youngest child and only daughter, attended the party. In her 70s, Giglio said it was "really great" being able to celebrate her mother’s birthday.

"We had a big party, her first really big party planned [for her 100th birthday], and she fell and broke her hip, so we had to cancel it. So we’ve had a party ever since," her daughter said.

"Every year I say this is probably the last one, but she keeps going," she said.

Age has not taken away the centenarian's humor; when asked how she was feeling, she replied "with my hands."

Day Haven Ronkonkoma Site Supervisor Alyssa Peterson said Papilon "has a slow start to her day, but she always talks with everybody and she’s always laughing."

"So we have a good time and she really likes bingo, and she always wins," Peterson said.

Day Haven "provides daytime care for frail older adults adults and individuals with Alzheimer’s or related dementia," according to their brochure. It offers an intergenerational program where children attending the HeadStart preschool next to the facility get to interact with the elders.

"She loves them. She has ... a lot of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so seeing [the preschoolers] definitely brings a smile to her face," Peterson said

While Papilon’s advice for living longer is simply "don’t worry," one Northwell Health geriatric doctor says her patients note "a sense of gratitude." Dr. Maria Carney, Northwell's chief for Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in New Hyde Park, said in an interview that she hears recurring themes, such as an "ability to adjust through life’s changes, whether that’s resiliency or flexibility."

Carney also highlighted the importance of a healthy diet and staying both physically and socially active, along with keeping a person's surroundings as safe as possible, including "not having area rugs or cords you can trip on."

"Make sure you get your whole list of medicines reviewed once a year, looking that they don’t conflict with each other," she said, suggesting to avoid "polypharmacy," when a person takes many different medications that could in turn cause side effects and symptoms.

Papilon is only six years younger than the current oldest known person who, according to Guinness World Records, is 115-year-old Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom.

Henrietta Dobin, of North Woodmere, died at 111 in September 2022, after being the oldest living person on Long Island. But in February, 2025, Rose Girone, a North Bellmore resident who had been believed then to be the oldest Holocaust survivor in the world, died at 113. 

During her party, Papilon was presented with proclamations from Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Legis. Leslie Kennedy.