Beechwood resident becomes a supercentenarian

Celestine Siemankowski Bowman – Sally, a resident at Beechwood Continuing Care in Getzville – will celebrate a significant milestone on April 5, when she turns 110 years old. There will be a special birthday celebration at Beechwood, located at 2235 Millersport Highway, with her family, and then amongst her friends at the site.

This supercentenarian was born on Good Friday in 1912, baptized that Easter Sunday at St. Stanislaus Church, resided in Sloan, and is the oldest as well as the longest-standing member of St. Andrew Church. Sally attended Sloan Union Free School No. 9, a one-room schoolhouse, Slocan Vocational School and graduated from St. Ann’s Business School. She was employed as a stenographer in the welfare and tax departments in Erie County, a senior accounts clerk in the tax office of Cheektowaga, courts stenographer for the Village of Sloan, and owned and operated the Cedar Inn in Sloan with her second husband, Peter Szemenciak.

Throughout her life, Sally has been known to be a very sharp dresser, a great cook and baker, with her specialty being placek, a Polish sweet bread. Sally loved to travel, with adventures that included many visits to Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean and a bus excursion through the Canadian Rockies.

Sally has five children, eight grandchildren (including a grandson she delivered in her home in 1953), 17 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.

In 2019, she moved to Beechwood Homes in Getzville where she enjoys playing bingo and rummy with her friends, visiting with family from Sloan and listening to music.

Beechwood Continuing Care is a not-for-profit senior care community that includes Asbury Pointe, the Village at North Church, and Ken-Ton Presbyterian Village, independent retirement communities; the Wesley Rehabilitation Center, short-term rehabilitative care; and the Beechwood Homes, a person-centered skilled nursing facility. For more information, visit www.beechwoodcare.org.