Minnie Pieatso believes keeping busy will keep you going, writes Peg DeGrassa for the Daily Times.

She would know. Pieatso just celebrated her 100^th birthday, joined by the staff and residents at Wallingford Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where she’s lived since 2019.

“Minnie inspires me to live to be 100,” said Melva Williams of Wallingford Social Services.  “She’s really special!”

Born in West Philadelphia, Pieatso grew up on Pearl Street with 10 other girls.

“We all lived on the same street, and we all were born two months apart,” Pieatso reminisced. “We remained friends throughout our whole lives. People used to call us ‘the 10 beauties of Pearl Street.’

Pieatso was wife to George and a homemaker in her earlier years on Spruce Street in Glenolden. She later worked at a shoe store in West Philadelphia and a dress shop in Secane. 

“I was always cooking, cleaning, crocheting, knitting, making tablecloths, or something!” she said.

These days, she reads and does puzzle books to stay out of trouble.

“I always loved to shop, too.”

Dorothy Turay, Wallingford’s activity director, said you can tell Pieastso loves to shop.

“She is quite a fashionista!”

Read more about the life and times of Minnie Pieatso in the Daily Times.