Oceanside’s Marie Giambalvo celebrates 100th birthday

Marie Giambalvo, resident at the Oceanside Care Center, celebrated turning 100 years old on June 11.

Born in 1924, Giambalvo grew up in Queens as one of six children. Reminiscing about her family, she fondly spoke about playing the piano from the age of 5 and continuing to play all her life. She even revealed that she once played with a group at Carnegie Hall. It was one of her lifelong passions. She played both classical and popular music, and noted that her favorite artist to play and to listen to was Yanni, a Greek pianist and composer.

“She always sang, and played the piano incredibly, like fantastically. She could hear something and then just play it,” said her granddaughter Dawn Giambalvo.

However, what Marie spoke about at length was her late husband Tony. They were married after only six months and stayed together for 35 years before he passed away at 55 from diabetes. Together they had two children, Joe and John. Giambalvo described it as “the perfect marriage,” and that he had been the love of her life. She even owns a Steinway piano that her husband Tony bought for her as a gift.

“He treated me like an angel, he did so many nice things for me. One day the doorbell rang, and there was just a big bouquet of flowers for me. He would just send me flowers for no reason,” Giambalvo said. “I think love like that makes the world go round. Without love, it’s just flat.”

According to her granddaughter Dawn, Marie is “a big fan of love.” Marie is always talking about love and about the magic it brings. Always asking and making sure that her family is being loved.

One thing that Marie says in all her life she is the most proud of, is taking in her granddaughter Claire as an infant and raising her as her own. Claire, whose parents had divorced and her father passed away, was facing foster care and a likely difficult life.

“I stepped up, and at 54 years old, I became a mother again. Make the formula, change her diapers, I did everything,” Marie said. “But it was great. She grew up and I made sure she finished college. She graduated from Molloy College (now Molloy University) with a master’s degree in education. She’s an English education teacher, and she’s loved and respected. That’s one thing I’m proud of.”

Although Marie has made it to 100, she claims there wasn’t any secret to living longer. She says that there are no tips she can give for living a longer life, that she just worked hard, focused on what was in front of her, and before she knew it she was in her nineties.

Although, a piece of general life advice that Marie wanted to share from all of her experiences, was to always be truthful. Marie said she doesn’t believe in being a liar. “In the end it may hurt, but the dirt always comes out in the wash. Tell the truth and see how much you prove yourself innocent,” Marie said.