Bayside Hills Woman Celebrates 100th Birthday With Car Cavalcade

BAYSIDE HILLS, QUEENS — A Bayside Hills woman celebrated turning 100 with the socially-distanced birthday bash of a lifetime.

Louise Ceci Jacobson, also known as Louisa or Louie, entered the centenarian club Sunday by partying the day away to the tune of a car cavalcade of friends and family circling her home, followed by lunch in her backyard.

That wasn't all. Loved ones based locally and in Jacobson's native Italy compiled a video montage that they screened during a 100-person, cross-country call over the video-conferencing platform Zoom.

State Sen. John Liu and City Council Member Barry Grodenchik also joined the weekend's festivities by presenting Jacobson with proclamations from their offices.

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"She was just overwhelmed," her daughter, Carole Jacobson Papadatos, told Patch of the birthday celebrations. "She loved it."

Jacobson has lived in Bayside Hills since 1962, according to Papadatos, who previously served on the board of the Bayside Hills Civic Association.

She was born in Vallacorsa, Italy, and became the first woman from her town to attend college after enrolling in the University of Rome. She continued her studies at the University of Southern California, then Hunter College in New York City.

She worked as a language teacher in New York City and Long Island schools and is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian.

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