Avid Yankees Fan Turns 101 Years Old

Beatrice "Jean" Silva really didn't know what all the fuss was about.

After all, she'd realized her life's dream in 2012 by spending her 100th birthday in a skybox at Yankee Stadium, surrounded by her sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and other close family.

She clutched a photo album of the memorable occasion, which her son Richard called "her other Bible." And, even though she'd lived in the Bronx for many years, it was her first visit to Yankee Stadium.

"I'm a little bewildered by this," Silva said, donning a Yankees hat, t-shirt and holding a Bronx Bombers teddy bear. "Such a big deal over an extra year."

The staff at Trexlertown's Mosser Nursing Home thought the occasion of Silva's 101st birthday was a big deal, and they threw her a party Friday worthy of Babe Ruth.

Silva recently moved into Mosser Nursing Home and the staff there honored her 101st birthday by changing Friday's lunch menu to a baseball-themed hamburger and hot dog feast.

They followed that up with a surprise birthday cake, several birthday cards and a large poster of Derek Jeter, something that brought Silva to tears.

"I either laugh or cry," she said. "But, I'm a Yankee." She then commented on wanting a Robinson Cano poster.

The occasion was so special that Gov. Tom Corbett and State Senator Lisa Boscola sent Silva special proclamations that were read aloud.

Silva's two sons, Richard of Lower Macungie and Donald of Albuquerque, N.M., were in attendance.

"What's to be said about that?" Richard Silva said as he pointed to his mother. "She kicks up. We were fortunate to get her [into Mosser]. This is going to put another 10 years on her."

Silva might move slowly with a walker, but she's still sharp with her wit.

"I don't know the answer to that question," she said when asked about the date of her marriage. "I'll remember it at 3 o'clock in the morning. Then, I'll call you up."

Silva, born in 1912 in Cold Springs N.Y., was married to her husband George in 1934 until his passing in 1997.

Together, they were in the plumbing, heating and fuel oil business. And, they owned and raced Standardbred horses in Goshen, N.Y. They even owned a summer home in Goshen for years.

"Then, Mom and Pop grew old and had to retire," she said.

"Living in Allentown, I did a lot of volunteer work," Silva said. "No matter what I did, I enjoyed it too. I thought I was doing something worthwhile.

"I had a happy family," she said.

And that's what 101 years of living is all about.