East Haven Woman, 101, Beats 2 World Pandemics, A Century Apart

EAST HAVEN, CT — Pauline Romano is the daughter of Polish immigrants who settled in New Haven in the last century.

At 101, she was born just as the Spanish Flu pandemic was abating in the spring of 1919, and as an infant, she survived it. She and her family also survived the poverty of the Great Depression.

Now, Romano has survived the new coronavirus.

"I'm happy to be alive," she told the staff at Whispering Pines Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in East Haven.

In a Facebook post, Whispering Pines said that Romano had "three things to celebrate."

"First, her 101st birthday was on May 9th. Second, her recovery from COVID-19 in the care of Whispering Pines Rehabilitation & Nursing Center. And third, her return to her own home, in East Haven."

Pauline was born in May 1919 on the eve of the deadliest pandemic in history, that infected a third of the world's population and killed tens of millions.

When her younger brother Peter Gojuk passed away in 2018 at age 97, in his obituary his siblings told "the story of Peter, as a young boy during the Great Depression, going to the railway station early in the morning, before school. He would collect loose coals that had fallen from the trains, bringing them home to help keep his family warm."

That's the life they led then. Pauline and her family survived the Great Depression and a pandemic. She has been a survivor her whole life. So when in April 100 years later she developed a fever, there was worry. She said she did not feel ill. But she was.

When she was diagnosed with COVID-19, Whispering Pines staff said, she told them: “I felt no virus. I didn’t feel sick.”

During a call with Whispering Pines director of admissions Cathy Wysokowski, she spoke of the devotion and caring of the staff at the nursing home. It was their care that helped to keep Pauline going, and then, home to her family.

The hardworking caregivers at Whispering Pines have worked round the clock with her, as with the other residents, giving her the best chance possible to recover, and ultimately securing her timely release back to her own home, they wrote on Facebook.

Nursing home administrator Terrance Brennan said staff worked around the clock in caring for her.

"At Whispering Pines, we believe in quality of life through quality of care. Our dedicated staff provide 24 hour a day exceptional care for our vulnerable residents, and naturally they grow close to them," he said. "Pauline is no exception, and staff will miss her great sense of humor, and she always has a smile for everyone. We are always happy to see our residents rehabilitated back to good health, and able to return to their own homes.”

Whispering Pines described Pauline, a former insurance administrative worker, mother of two and grandmother of six, as “very independent."

And they quoted her as saying that while under their care, "I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I’m sad because I’ll miss everyone at Whispering Pines. But I get to go home now."

"Consistent with her independent nature, and something that perhaps explains her extraordinary recovery, Pauline said, 'All I had on my mind is that I wanted to go home.'"

Pauline said she was "so happy to be alive.”

And Whispering Pines said, "So say all of us."

All of us, too.