Lenore Costello, a resident of Lake Alfred, Florida, USA, is celebrating her 110th birthday today.
Lenore Costello was born in Sycamore, Ohio, on 12 November 1916. She was the third of five daughters. She earned a one-year scholarship to Heidelberg University, where she studied sociology and biology. To cover her expenses, she also participated in a youth work program. At the university, she became known as “Gundy,” a nickname she would carry throughout her life. Soon after graduating, she secured a position as executive director of the American Red Cross in Wyandot County, Ohio. In that role, she met her future husband, George Costello, who was a member of the organization’s national staff.
Before the United States entered World War II, the Red Cross sent George to the Philippines for six months to establish civil defense units. On his return voyage by ship, he passed through Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1941, just one day before the Japanese surprise attack. He arrived in San Francisco on 9 December. George was later sent to the Philippines for a second deployment, this time for 15 months, to assist with the reconstruction of the Red Cross organization there. Meanwhile, with the country at war, she stepped up activities at her local Red Cross unit. Among other efforts, she and other women knitted surgical dressings and bathrobes for donation to veterans’ hospitals…