Rose Pancher marks 100th birthday

The United Nations estimates more than 108,000 people in the United States are at least 100 years old. A new addition to this rare group is Rose Pancher of Dover, who marks her 100th birthday on April 12. Pancher, a resident of the Assisted Living Center at Park Village of Dover, was born in Uhrichsville in 1924, the daughter of Josephine and Joseph Natoli.

Pancher said she has raised three decent children of whom she is very proud. “I have one daughter and two sons, and they’re all three nice people,” she said.

She has been widowed since 2005 when her husband of 53 years, Gilbert, passed away.

Pancher did well in school, graduating from then Uhrichsville High School as valedictorian in 1942. She did well enough to be offered a scholarship to a prestigious university. But it was a different time. Pancher was the child of conservative immigrants, and she wasn’t able to attend.

Her parents were Italian immigrants who came from Sicily and eventually settled in Uhrichsville.

Pancher said while she has not widely traveled during much of her lifetime, that changed 10 years ago when her daughter Joanne Decker and her husband Dave took her on a tour of Italy, seeing much of the land of her ancestors for a trip.

“We were in Rome. We saw the Colosseum. We went to Pompeii,” Decker said. “Mom was front and center for all of it. I told the tour guide at Pompeii, ‘She’s 90, so we’ll just hang toward the back and will be fine.’ But no, Mom pushed her way right up front the whole time, and the tour guide called her Ferrari. She was at the front of everything for the whole tour, keeping up with everyone.”

The European trip took her to the small village in Sicily from which her family emigrated, meeting previously unknown relatives. “It was quite a great trip,” Pancher said.

Her family brought with them the foods of their home. She remembers her grandmother as a very good person and a good cook, something backed up by her daughter Joanne.

“I remember quite a lot of eggplant from Grandma. She also made a lot of things with sardines. That was big,” Decker said.

Decker said her parents were happy to be at home, venturing out for one sea cruise during their marriage. Pancher kept herself busy, not just with a growing family and full-time job, but also by learning ceramics and cross stitching and at the card table with games of canasta with friends.

Pancher was an employee at Larson Clay Pipe Company of Gnadenhutten for 30 years before retiring to become one of the first volunteers at the Dennison Depot Museum in 1989. She remained in that capacity for 30 years until the pandemic kept her away in 2020.

Pancher will be celebrated with a small gathering at Park Village. People are invited to send cards to her at Park Village Assisted Living South C-11, 1525 Crater Ave., Dover.

Pancher’s son John (Robin) lives in DeLand, Florida, and her son Jim Pancher is in Uhrichsville. She has three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She is still a member of Immaculate Conception Church in Dennison.