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PITTSBURG —
If you want to find Miss February, the last place to look for her is at home.
Therese Benso, 2013 Woman of Distinction for February, is hardly ever home. In fact, she wasn’t home when word came that she had been chosen for the annual calendar presented by the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I was in Chicago when that happened,” she said Monday in a lull at the Mall Deli, where she works the cash register for nephew Jim Martino, deli owner. “Jim sent me an e-mail and called me, and that was a surprise. He had to do the honors for me because I was in Chicago for five weeks.”
She is especially close to Martino because his mother was her twin sister, Rose.
“He has my genes, he and his wife Diane are like my own children,” Benso said.
She and her sister were born in Melrose Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb. Benso lived in the Chicago area and worked as assistant director of personnel at Memorial Hospital, where her daughter and granddaughter later worked.
Benso moved to Pittsburg in 1984 with her husband, who was originally from this area. The couple had a son and two daughters. Her husband is deceased, along with a daughter who died at 50 from cancer.
“She left me two beautiful grandsons that she never saw get married,” Benso said. “I have 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren who are scattered everywhere, but I got to see every single one of the 18 when I was in Chicago.
She had a wonderful time playing with them.
“Whatever they want me to do, I’ll do,” Benso said. “I go to arcades and play games with them, I did bumper cars with them. I can still have fun.”
This will be her 91st year of life, but she keeps so busy that age can’t catch up with her.
“I never think about how old I am, because it doesn’t mean anything to me,” she said.
Benso gets up at 4:30 a.m. every morning, goes to 6:30 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, then works out at the Pittsburg Family YMCA.
After all that, she heads to the Mall Deli five days a week.
“This place is my lifeline,” Benso said. “I enjoy all the people who come in here.”
Her nephew keeps watch over her, or tries to, and her son calls almost every day.
She sees no need to slow down and certainly no need to retire from her post at the deli.
“When you retire, you cut your life in half,” Benso said. “I just stay very busy and just can’t stay home. “I think it keeps you healthier.”
She may be on to something, because she takes no medication.
“I’ve been very blessed,” Benso said.
If you want to find Miss February, the last place to look for her is at home.
Therese Benso, 2013 Woman of Distinction for February, is hardly ever home. In fact, she wasn’t home when word came that she had been chosen for the annual calendar presented by the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I was in Chicago when that happened,” she said Monday in a lull at the Mall Deli, where she works the cash register for nephew Jim Martino, deli owner. “Jim sent me an e-mail and called me, and that was a surprise. He had to do the honors for me because I was in Chicago for five weeks.”
She is especially close to Martino because his mother was her twin sister, Rose.
“He has my genes, he and his wife Diane are like my own children,” Benso said.
She and her sister were born in Melrose Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb. Benso lived in the Chicago area and worked as assistant director of personnel at Memorial Hospital, where her daughter and granddaughter later worked.
Benso moved to Pittsburg in 1984 with her husband, who was originally from this area. The couple had a son and two daughters. Her husband is deceased, along with a daughter who died at 50 from cancer.
“She left me two beautiful grandsons that she never saw get married,” Benso said. “I have 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren who are scattered everywhere, but I got to see every single one of the 18 when I was in Chicago.
She had a wonderful time playing with them.
“Whatever they want me to do, I’ll do,” Benso said. “I go to arcades and play games with them, I did bumper cars with them. I can still have fun.”
This will be her 91st year of life, but she keeps so busy that age can’t catch up with her.
“I never think about how old I am, because it doesn’t mean anything to me,” she said.
Benso gets up at 4:30 a.m. every morning, goes to 6:30 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, then works out at the Pittsburg Family YMCA.
After all that, she heads to the Mall Deli five days a week.
“This place is my lifeline,” Benso said. “I enjoy all the people who come in here.”
Her nephew keeps watch over her, or tries to, and her son calls almost every day.
She sees no need to slow down and certainly no need to retire from her post at the deli.
“When you retire, you cut your life in half,” Benso said. “I just stay very busy and just can’t stay home. “I think it keeps you healthier.”
She may be on to something, because she takes no medication.
“I’ve been very blessed,” Benso said.
