Orland Park Woman Celebrates 99th Birthday

ORLAND PARK, IL — Florence Janega turned 99 on Thursday, and the Charter Senior Living of Orland Park, located at 8021 W. 151st St., celebrated the day with her.

Janega, a resident of the community, partook in birthday festivities with family and other friends at the facility on Thursday. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, her party was a bit smaller, with masks and more. This didn't diminish Janega's spirit, though. Janega simply told staff, "We don't need to make a hoopla, we'll celebrate again at 100!"

The 99-year-old said one of her favorite memories in life is being a dancer. When it came to making a wish with her special chocolate cake, Janega simply said she wants to enjoy herself.

Janega's life advice to everyone is to "be good," to everyone around. She also said that is the secret to living a long life.

Executive Director Mary Ellen McDevitt said the community put a lot of effort into planning its first-ever birthday party for a resident.

"There's so much going on right now that is not celebratory in the world. We want to take every minute we can and just have that glimmer of sparkle, hope and fun. We just want to have fun," McDevitt said. "We take our COVID precautions very seriously. We've had our two vaccination clinics already so all of our residents have been vaccinated ... COVID tests are taken twice a week and we still take masks very seriously."

Mayor of Orland Park Keith Pekau was invited to the party, but was unable to make it. As a way to celebrate, he sent a plaque wishing Janega a happy birthday. The plaque can be seen below:

Happy Birthday, Florence!

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