A Party for Valentine’s Day Centenarians

Mary Delfino and her twin, Jean DeAngelis, were sure about one thing: Even if they were turning 100 on Valentine’s Day, they did not want the congratulatory letters from President Clinton read at their party.

Devout Roman Catholics, the sisters think little of the president. On the other hand, they were thrilled with the autographed photographs of Alex Trebec, host of their favorite TV show, “Jeopardy.”

The photos were just a small part of a “marvelous love fest” tossed for the women at Newport Harbor Yacht Club, said Delfino’s oldest son, Tony.

“They always ate a lot of vegetables. That’s the only thing I can think of that would keep them going so long,” said Tony Delfino, who spent six months planning the bash.

The two centenarians, dressed in twin pearl sets, greeted more than 130 nephews, cousins, grandchildren, godchildren and close friends during the luncheon.

“I flew out from New York to be part of what I consider to be an epic event,” said Sheree Tallerman, 36, a longtime friend. “To be part of a birthday where you have not only one turning 100, but two, was just a spectacular experience.”

Many of the guests cried and laughed at the same time as they watched a video about the two sisters’ lives. There were photos of them in little white communion dresses at age 4, in floor-length bathing suits in the 1920s, and one in Hawaii on vacation when they were in their 50s.

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The sisters were born in Brooklyn, the third and fourth of six children--Jean beat Mary out by a few minutes on Feb. 14, 1899. Their father, a furniture salesman who had emigrated from Italy, sold his New York store and took the family back home in 1905 after members of the Mafia threatened to hurt his young children if he did not pay protection money, Tony Delfino said.

“He bluffed them out,” Tony Delfino said. “My very dear old grandfather wasn’t going to let anyone hurt his family.”

The family moved back in 1912, and one by one migrated west, following their older sister, who wrote of the opportunities to be had in Los Angeles. Delfino met and married a man and raised two boys. DeAngelis worked as a seamstress at 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., sewing costumes for Betty Grable and Olivia de Havilland, including some of the garb used in “Gone With the Wind.”

Delfino lives in West Hollywood, and DeAngelis in West Los Angeles, but they talk “35 times a day,” according to Mary’s son. “They couldn’t live together. There would be two murders. There’s some sibling rivalry.”

After several hours of frivolity, flowers, serenades and marathon rounds of hugs and kisses, the twins were given a special escort back to Tony Delfino’s house. Because they have arthritic knees, four firefighters from the Newport Beach Fire Department carried them gently up the steps.

“If they make it another year, they’ll have lived three generations,” said Tony Delfino jubilantly. “There’s no reason they shouldn’t. There’s not a thing wrong with either of them, other than the knees.”