SOUTH HADLEY — Entering an activity room at Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation Center on the afternoon of her 100th birthday, where trays of cupcakes, chocolate-covered strawberries and candy covered the tables and festive balloons and other decorations were displayed, Josephine Keeley’s eyes lit up.
There, across the room, sat one of her childhood friends from Hadley.
“Good to see you,” Keeley said, as she extended her hand toward Nellie Matysiewicz, a Sunderland resident who will turn 100 in December, and was recently recognized as that town’s oldest resident. “It’s been a long time.”
“I’m still here,” Matysiewicz replied. “Nice to see you.”
Keeley then quickly asked, “Are you retired?” eliciting laughs from the friends, relatives, care workers and staff gathered for the occasion, which culminated with the singing of “Happy Birthday” and then the extinguishing of battery-powered candles, reading “100,” positioned next to an apple pie, a substitute birthday cake that she requested.
The get-together was organized, in part, by Jo-Ann Bourguignon, a longtime friend of Keeley, who wanted to provide a happy occasion for her. Keeley moved into the center over the summer after living for more than 70 years in a home on North Pleasant Street, north of the University of Massachusetts campus. Keeley continued to make her home there, even after suffering a stroke, by getting around-the-clock attention from staff at Comprehensive Home Care.
While Keeley was an Amherst resident, moving there upon her marriage to a state police trooper and also spending many summers at a nearby family farm, her formative years were spent growing up in a house on East Street in Hadley. Her father, Joseph Bialek, was a longtime farmer who used land in both Hadley and Amherst to grow crops.
Keeley’s friend, then known as Nellie Wanczyk, also grew up in Hadley, and together they attended elementary schools, like the former Hooker School, and lived a short distance from each other.
After high school, Keeley attended the New York Institute of Dietetics, where she learned the skills necessary to be a dietician.
“I didn’t want to be a farmer; I knew I could do better,” Keeley said.
Even so, Keeley has long been known for her skills at gardening and taking care of her home, Bourguignon said. Until the stroke, she would continue to climb ladders to clean the gutters.
Most of her professional career as a dietician was spent at food services at UMass, with 38 years in charge of five dining halls, the hotel and snack bar, and special events catering. Keeley takes pride in what Ken Toong has done in recent years in getting national attention for UMass Dining.
“UMass is number one in the country, the best food service in the country,” Keeley said.
In 1984, she earned a Chancellor’s Medal for exemplary and extraordinary service for her time, starting as a supervisor of a small dining operation in 1953, then becoming assistant director for menu services, where she would design menus, develop and test foods, supervise the vegetarian and other special menu programs, and directs the Meals on Wheels program.
Matysiewicz also worked at UMass, becoming the head secretary at the engineering school, so it was appropriate that for the occasion she, like Keeley, had on a maroon sweater. Accompanied by her daughters Sue Matysiewicz, who has worked with Bourguignon at UMass, and Deborah Maroni, the family brought a binder filled with photos, including an elementary school class picture that included both women.
As they sat next to each other, Matysiewicz was easily able to identify and say the names of those in the class picture, likely when they were at Hooker School.
“I remember her,” Keeley said, as Matysiewicz mentioned the name of a classmate and pointed to her.
Then she noticed herself. “This one here — it’s me,” Matysiewicz said.
“You have a good memory,” Keeley responded.
The friends weren’t sure how long it had been since they had talked, but Matysiewicz said it was “ages ago.”
The party also included the presentation of a citation signed by Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.
As the event wound down, with other people at the center joining in, Keeley put out an invitation for a similar party next year.
“I’m ready for the next one,” Keeley said.