Adrienne Livadas Celebrates 100th

Photo Catherine Tsounis Adrienne Livadas celebrated her 100th birthday November 5.

Adrienne Livadas of Astoria celebrated her 100th birthday the afternoon of November 5 at Punta Dura Restaurant, 41-15 34th Ave. in Astoria with family and friends celebrating with her. Livadas, who is known as "Sweetheart" to her family, gave a special smile and thank you to all. Livadas was born in 1906 at the village

of Angon, Cephalonia to a distinguished family. A relative was mayor of the village. An ancestor, Gerasimos Livadas, studied law in Venice, becoming a member of the underground Greek revolutionary group known as the Filiki Eteria in 1821.

Adrienne Livadas immigrated to New York City prior to 1920, passing through Ellis Island. She attended P.S. 85 and a junior high school in Manhattan at 50th Street and 8th Avenue. In the mid-1920s she performed fine craftsmanship in the fur industry, crocheting beads.

Her father lost his deli business at the old Madison Square Garden at 8th Avenue and 49th Street in Manhattan, during the 1929 stock market crash. The family immigrated to Utica, New York where he acquired a skating rink concession stand. She later lived in Rochester, New York, before moving back to New York City. She was employed in the fur industry until the age of 70.

Livadas never married. She devoted her life to her family. She cared for her parents. She sent a brother to Yale and Columbia University. Livadas' family appreciates her. She presently lives with her nephew in Astoria and is cared for by nephews, nieces and greatnieces.

"When I came from Greece in 1945, I stayed with her at her apartment in Washington Heights," said Aspasia Christopher, her niece. "At that time she was working at Macy's for $6 a week as well as Saks Fifth Avenue. She sacrificed herself for her family. There is little we can do to repay her."

--Catherine Tsounis