The centenarian-plus birthday club has grown by another member in Tioga County, New York. Long-time Newark Valley resident, Josephine “Jo” Dunn, pictured inside Riverview Manor in Owego, is celebrating her 106th birthday on Jan. 28. (Photo by JoAnn R. Walter)
The centenarian-plus club has grown by another member in Tioga County, New York. The 100-plus-six birthday club, that is. Long-time Newark Valley resident, Josephine “Jo” Dunn, now living at Riverview Manor in Owego, is celebrating her 106th birthday on Jan. 28.
Last year, Barton, N.Y. resident, Helen Grier, turned 106. Thought to be the oldest resident in Tioga County, Helen was born in 1909 and will be 107 in May.
Born in the timeframe that Orville and Wilbur Wright’s new company, The Wright Company, had set up a factory in Dayton, Ohio, along with a flying school and test flight field, Jo Dunn has witnessed and experienced multiple changes in America’s history since her birth near Scranton, Pa. in 1910.
In the 1930’s, when Jo was about 23 years old, she showed off her courageous side and took a ride in an open cockpit bi-plane with her then boyfriend.
“I wasn’t really that scared,” she commented.
Regarding the onset of automobile transportation, Jo exclaimed, “My first car ride was in a Tin Lizzie!”
Jo shared that her first car ride was in Henry Ford’s “Tin Lizzie,” or better known as the Model T. Before cars became more affordable, Jo said most people had a horse barn and rode horses or horses with carriages to get around.
An only child, Jo was raised by her widowed mother in Dalton, Pa., near Clarks Summit; her father passed away when she was only four years old. A story that still saddens her today, as a young man, her father was accidentally shot near his heart with a pistol, and survived. The bullet remained for several years as he went about daily life, with surgery not an option then. While out hiking and hunting one day, he over-exerted himself and the bullet shifted, causing his heart to stop.
Jo said her mother worked as a telephone operator to support them and was able to keep young Jo with her while she worked, and eventually remarried. Perhaps inheriting a longevity-gene, Jo’s mother lived to age 98.
Jo met her husband, William Dunn, Sr. in Scranton and they married in 1936. The couple owned a Five and Dime store ironically called “The Penny Saver,” and relocated to the Southern Tier where her husband secured a job at IBM. He passed away in 1992.
For many years, the Dunn’s traveled back and forth between New York and Florida, snow-birding at the east coast towns of Fort Pierce and Vero Beach.
“I like the ocean,” Jo shared, and added, “I like when it laps against my feet.”
Jo herself worked as a secretary, stenographer, and operated a switchboard. Jo also worked at an insurance company. One of her favorite jobs, however, was writing for several local newspapers, and she also submitted material to a nostalgia magazine called, “Reminisce.”
An avid reader, Jo enjoys reading the newspaper every day. Alert with a sharp memory still intact, a talent of Jo’s is singing favorite songs, of which she remembers much of the lyrics, and entertained this writer with the tune, “Harvest Moon” during our interview. She shared a memory about visiting music stores back-in-the-day that had musicians who played the piano and sang, and you could decide if you wanted to buy the music or not.
When asked what her secret is to a long life, Jo explained, “Don’t argue or quarrel and keep positive,” and she added the number one secret is, “Keep a sense of humor!”
Jo said she can get along with just about anybody. An example of that trait along with her sense of humor; when the conversation turned briefly to politics, Jo said she couldn’t say if Donald Trump would be one of those people she could get along with.
For her birthday celebration, Jo’s long-time friends, the “Lunch Bunch,” will visit her at Riverview Manor, and she will also go to the home of her son, Bill Dunn, Jr., for a birthday party. Joined by generations of family members, Jo’s great-granddaughter will celebrate her first birthday at the same time, her middle name of which happens to be Josephine.
Jo said she never fully liked her first name and prefers to be called Jo instead of Josephine.
Jo has two sons, Bill Jr. and Jay, four grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
