Palmerton woman celebrates 93 years

Althea Young, a resident at the Village at Palmerton, celebrated her 93rd birthday on July 15.

Born in Bowmanstown, Althea was the youngest of three girls.

"Arletta, Florence and I were very close. When we were young, mom had each of us take piano lessons with Earl Seip on Delaware Avenue," says Althea.

"She felt it was important to always have music in our lives, she was right because later in high school I played piano in the orchestra while I attended Palmerton High School."

She was also a cheerleader and attended all the football and basketball games to support her school.

"Great friends and sports, those are my favorite high school memories of the Class of 1938," she said.

Althea was awarded a scholarship to attend B.F. Heines Junior College in Philadelphia, where she studied business. That resulted in her getting a job in Washington, DC. She was a government secretary for three years and says that it was there that she met Fred Young.

"I was in the park with friends and Fred met us there; my friends already knew him and introduced us," she said. Fred was a Navy pilot stationed in Washington.

"I lived on the top floor of my apartment building on Bunker Hill Road, and when Fred would take off flying in the morning, he would tell me to listen for his wake up call," she said.

"He would rev the plane engines over my building and I knew it was him, and I'd smile. It was a kind of a 'good morning to Althea!' It was so romantic!"

They married on Oct. 24, 1944 and moved home to Palmerton.

"Fred loved my mom's cooking, so the choice was easy!"

Althea got a job in the business office of Palmerton Hospital and Fred joined the workforce of the New Jersey Zinc Company.

The couple had four children: Fred Jr., who resides in Palmerton with his wife Nancy; Syble and her husband Tom, of Hancock, N.Y.; Mary and her husband Cary of Astoria, N.Y., and Billy of Vermont.

At The Village, Althea attends exercise, reads James Patterson novels, and still tickles the ivories from time to time.