Wvw Administrators To Get 20 Percent Raises

Agnes Karpowicz 
Dec. 12, 1993 
Agnes M. Karpowicz, Of East Grand Street, Nanticoke, Died Sunday At Mercy 
Hospital, Wilkes-barre.

By SYLVIA CASTRO URIBES; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Tuesday, December 14, 1993 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1 &amp; 10A QUICK WORDS: A LIFETIME OF
GIVING 





WILKES-BARRE -- Her big blue eyes twinkle just like Santa's and she
attributes her long life to a jolly sense of humor. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna Polk, who will celebrate her 100th birthday Dec. 19, says she feels as
young as ever and jolly enough to dress up as Santa to amuse residents and
visitors at the city rest home where she lives. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "I don't feel any different than when I was 20 years old," says Polk, whose
parents were immigrants from Czechoslovakia. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She was the eldest of nine children, four brothers and five sisters, all
born in the city's Georgetown section. She has outlived all her siblings. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I've lived so long because I've tried to be a good person all my life and
living is my reward," she says. "I never got mad at anybody, and I tried to
help whenever I could." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna Polk, whose maiden name is Anna Grivner, says she married late in
life. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's hard to remember, but I think I was about 30," she says. "I was
considered an old maid, but that didn't bother me. In them days, there were a
lot of us old maids around." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Her husband, John Polk, was glad to marry her, she says: "He had three
children who needed to be taken care of. He was glad to get me." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Her step-children, Mary Ann, John and Helen, were soon joined by two new
brothers, William and Raymond. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Her zest for life and her children keep her going. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They come to visit me whenever they can," she says. "I know they have
their own lives to lead and I don't want to trouble them." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna's husband worked as a policeman in Swoyersville while she worked in a
silk mill on Empire Street. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "My husband and I lived a calm life, and I think of him from time to time." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John died when she was 75 years old and she has never remarried or cared to
have another man in her life. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Do you think I want a boyfriend who needs to use a walker to get around?"
she chuckles. "Besides, who would want someone like me who has to use a cane
when I walk?" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna says she is content to spend her days sitting down and watching people
around her. To keep herself busy at Christmastime, Anna dresses up as Santa
Claus every year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Kids who come visit love it, and so do I," she says. "I guess it has made
me popular. I feel like Zsa Zsa Gabor." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna is a spark wherever she goes. She teases others as they walk down the
halls of Wyoming Valley Manor, where she lives. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I take care of them," she says as she lightly pushes the shoulders of a
man passing in a wheelchair, and chuckles, "I take care of all of you, don't
I?" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna says she loves to dance polkas and still tells jokes: "Some people
ask, `Anna, where did you hear that?' I just smile when I make them laugh." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Anna says her mother used to warn her that she would end up living in the
poorhouse if she wasn't good in life. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "To tell you the truth I feel like I own the whole world," Anna says. "I am
very proud to be where I am. I have enough food and I am ready for the next 50
years. I want to live. I'm sure not ready to die yet."

A Lifetime Of Giving She's Still A Right Jolly Old Elf With Her 100th Birthday Closing In, Dressing Up As Santa Claus And Making People Laugh