FOREST HILL – Like millions out of work and stuck at home by the coronavirus pandemic, Rosina Cascio looks forward to the green light that would signal the return to her job in the St. Ignatius Hickory parish office.
What separates Cascio from others in the workforce, however, is her age.
She’ll celebrate her 100th birthday June 27, and is as enthusiastic as ever about her position as a receptionist in the parish office, closed since mid-March.
“At home you’re just stuck and you’re bored,” Cascio mused, on how the coronavirus has interrupted her daily routines. “You’re trying to do things you’ve been putting off for years but you don’t feel like doing them either. Do I want to go back to work? Yes. I would like that very much.”
She was born in the summer of 1920 in Baltimore, and began working as a student at Western High School in a program that provided bus fare. She has since worked as a stenographer, receptionist, telephone operator, bank employee and a salesperson, among other occupations.
Cascio spent much of her work life at the Social Security Administration, initially at its location on Calvert Street, then its Woodlawn headquarters. She served as the administrative secretary to an associate commissioner in charge of all field offices and program service centers. She retired in the mid-1970s.
Moving to Harford County around 1990, Cascio embraced St. Ignatius as a parishioner and volunteer. In 2001, at age 81, she became a paid reception-ist, three days a week.
“Her background speaks to why she is always very professional, charming and friendly,” says Monsignor James M. Barker, pastor. “She dresses impeccably. She greets parishioners who come to the parish office, answers the phone, completes Mass cards when they’re requested, coordinates a team of volunteers to stuff bulletins, sends
bulletins to those who are infirm and homebound with no access to a computer, and takes on other office tasks.
“You would never know she’s 100. She doesn’t look a day over 70.”
Before the pandemic – and weather permitting – Cascio drove herself to 7:30 a.m. Mass and then work every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
“I don’t drive anywhere other than from home to the church and back,” says Cascio, who never married and lives with her niece, Ursula Crouse, in Bel Air. “It’s a short drive that takes about eight minutes. I’m content with that.”
According to Monsignor Barker, Cascio’s years of service rank her second in longevity on the parish office staff.
She grapples occasionally with the notion of fully retiring.
“Every time I think of a date something happens that changes it,” she says. “I love my job because it puts me in touch with people and a lot of parishioners. It’s not a terrible drain on me, not like one of the bigger secretarial jobs here. It’s just a nice job. It’s a very good fit for me and a comfortable job at this stage in my life.”
Asked what continues to propel her, Cascio replied, “It’s nothing that I’m doing. It’s what God is doing.”
