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102 years young

Josephine Briggs has fond memories of skating, dancing, mostly family

Photo Submitted to the Times Observer Josephine Briggs (Tremblay) celebrated her 102nd birthday on August 21, 2019. She was born in 1917 in Clarendon Borough and is a current resident at the Warren Manor where she enjoys playing bingo, getting her nails painted, and getting her hair done at the Manor salon.

Not many are privileged enough to see the ripe young age of 102, but Josephine Briggs is one of the lucky ones.

Josephine Briggs (Tremblay), born on August 21, 1917, in Clarendon Borough, celebrated her 102nd birthday this year.

She was one of seven children and is the only remaining sibling alive. She currently resides in the Warren Manor and loves to play bingo, getting her nails painted, and getting her hair done in the salon at the Manor.

She has lived at the Manor since 2010.

“She likes it here, we keep her busy,” said Kyla Weber, a social worker at Warren Manor.

Photo Submitted to the Times Observer Josephine Briggs (Tremblay) celebrated her 102nd birthday on August 21, 2019. She was born in 1917 in Clarendon Borough and is a current resident at the Warren Manor where she enjoys playing bingo, getting her nails painted, and getting her hair done at the Manor salon.

Growing up, she loved to ice skate and roller skate.

“The older I get, the better skating sounds,” said Josephine. “I had to go to Sheffield mostly; I was sad when they closed it.”

“I liked to dance, too, growing up… I had a lot of fun.”

Josephine grew up surrounded by pets, mostly dogs.

Her father worked at the Refinery. “He had to go into big hot tanks and clean them out all the time, it was dangerous. We used to go and watch him, don’t think you can do that anymore,” said Josephine.

She attended and graduated from Warren High School, where she met her husband.

She was married to Willard Briggs for 61 years. Together, they raised three boys and two girls in Warren.

Willard was an LPN at Warren State Hospital and Josephine worked at the New Process, now Blair, and sold Avon for a number of years.

Most of her children are still around the Warren area, one son in particular visits quite frequently, she said. Josephine is a big ice cream eater and enjoys going to the ice cream truck with her son when he comes to visit her.

Josephine remembers doing a lot of cooking, both growing up and while raising her own family.

“I did lots of cooking, my mom taught me and I learned by myself,” said Josephine. “We ate a lot of spaghetti, it was easy to make and there were a lot of mouths to feed. We were a happy family.”

Josephine has four surviving children, 11 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild.

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