Orland Park Board Recognizes Newly Minted Centenarian Lea Luchini

ORLAND PARK, IL — An Orland Park woman who recently celebrated her 100th birthday and who has never allowed anything to get in the way of her enjoying her life to the fullest was honored at Monday night’s village board meeting.

Lea Luchini reached the milestone birthday last week and celebrated with more than 50 family members on Saturday. After receiving more than 200 birthday cards after the oldest of her seven grandchildren launched a Facebook campaign to collect one card for one of his grandmother’s birthdays, Mayor Keith Pekau recognized the centenarian at Monday night’s village board meeting with a proclamation.

The proclamation recognized Monday at Lea Luchini Day in the Village of Orland Park, recognizing the long-time resident's commitment to keeping her mind engaged, her body active and always remaining up for new adventures.

According to the proclamation, the advice Luchini offers includes, "Listen to your elders as they have much to contribute" and not to allow "your newly widowed young mother-in-law to move in with you 'temporarily'".

In addition to being recognized by village officials, Luchini was honored recently by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Luchini was born on February 15, 1923, to Emil and Adele Tonelli in Gragnola, Italy — a small hamlet in the mountains of northern Tuscany. She came to the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago with her mother at the age of 2 to join her father who was already working in the south suburban community. According to her family, Luchini didn’t speak English but soon assimilated and went on from St. Willibrord Grade School to graduate high school at St. Louis Academy.

Luchini met active-duty WWII Navy Seaman August “Gus” Luchini in Roseland in 1943. The couple married nine months later at St. Willibrord Catholic Church. By 1947, their family grew with the addition of their first daughter, Adele, followed by Alice in 1950, and Anita in 1954.

Luchini spent her days as a full-time mother with the occasional stint working at a friend’s furniture store or doing typing jobs in the family dining room, her family says Luchini always cared for her family — including her parents who were within walking distance — and her daughters remember helping their grandparents with groceries and laundry.

Luchini and her husband moved from Roseland into a new home they built in Orland Park in 1973. The couple entertained their growing family in the home and watched over some of their seven grandchildren, five of whom lived within walking distance of their grandparents’ home, which continued to be a family tradition.

After Gus retired, the couple began selling his hand-crafted jewelry pieces as well as his gold-plated plants at local craft shows. They enjoyed this a great deal and made many friends in the process. The couple traveled to Italy in 1974, which Luchini's family said was her first trip to see family since she left as a 2-year-old child.

Her aunt, uncle, and many cousins were all there to visit with her. She made sure to have her photo taken at the baptismal font in the church of Gragnola as well. Gus passed away in 1994 and Luchini remained in their Orland Park home and working at a knit shop teaching many others to enjoy knitting as much as she did with the hobby.

Luchini continues to enjoy sewing, crocheting, and knitting for friends and family. She made sure to teach all of her daughters how to thread a needle and to sew as soon as they were old enough, just as her mother did. Luchini continues to travel and try out new experiences, her family said, including trying jet skiing at the age of 86.

Besides her infectious joy for living, Luchini’s family says her greatest pride in life are her three children, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.