A World War I survivor, an Italian immigrant, loving mother’local centenarian Alice Santulina will be remembered as a steadfast St. Anne Church member who put family and community first.
Santulina died Jan. 27 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Oakland.
She was 100.
A funeral Mass was celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday from St. Anne Church, Rev. Fr. Ron Richards officiated. Interment in Ortonville Cemetery.
Born Jan. 2, 1908, Alice Pedrazzoli (Santulina) grew up in the Italian city of Pellizzano, with her father and mother, Mario and Anna, along with three brothers.
‘At the outbreak of World War I, mom was about 8-years-old, the Germans took over the family home and used it to store artillery,? said Ortonville resident Esther Jaruga, only daughter of Alice. ‘The Germans were never mean to her she told us’but she talked about giving up the family home for the war and recalled some of the war casualties near the home.?
Alice’s father, Mario, came to the United States during World War I, while the family stayed behind in Pellizzano. Alice and the rest of the family followed him in 1919 and settled in a small mining town near Pittsburgh.
Alice married Camillo Santulina in 1927 and they moved to Detroit in the late 1930s. Following Camillo’s death in 1965, Alice moved to Ortonville to live with her daughter, Esther Jaruga.
‘She took great care of herself,? said Esther.
‘She never smoked or drank and she always ate well’I guess that’s why she lived to be 100-years-old.?
Earlier this year, Alice celebrated her 100th birthday with a gathering of about 65 friends and family.
Alice was a longtime active member of St. Anne Church where she participated in the Ortonville Crop Walk for many years.
‘She walked every year except for the year she had a broken ankle,? said Sue Howard, Ortonville Crop Walk founder. ‘Even after she could no longer participate in the Crop Walk, she stayed at the Methodist church and rocked in a rocking chair during the walk.?