Local World War II veteran to celebrate 100th birthday

TURTLE CREEK, Pa. — A veteran from Turtle Creek is preparing to celebrate his 100th birthday Sunday.

John Dinnocenzo may be one of the most active 99-year-olds you’ll ever meet. He spends his days waking up early, tending to a full garden, pulling weeds and crossing off a busy go do list.

He still drives and is mobile, walking with a cane and sometimes without one when his children aren’t around to scold him.

“I did take his ladders away a few years ago or he’d still be trying to climb ladders,” his daughter Debra Dinnocenzo said with a smile.

John Dinnocenzo’s story began in 1925. His parents, a father who was an immigrant from Italy and a mother who was born in Punxsutawney, raised him in Turtle Creek.

“We were brought up very poor. Very, very poor,” he explained.

He is one of seven siblings and has a sister who is still living too.

The 99-year-old turns 100 Sunday.

“Every day is my favorite day. That’s all. I have a routine,” he said.

John’s day begins at 5 a.m. He says he makes his bed and gets one cup of coffee before he gets to work. He eats the same lunch every day, half of a sandwich and half of an apple.

Then he heads outside to his garden. He keeps it perfectly manicured and just built a fence around it himself to keep animals out.

John has been working almost his whole life. He says he started working as a caddy at age 8 or 9.

“A quarter was a very big tip,” he said.

After graduation, he got drafted to serve in World War II. He wasn’t sure he would make it home.

John was wounded during a battle in Anzio, Italy.

“The orders were that day anybody gets hit, keep going. Don’t stop to help them,” he said.

He said he laid in the woods injured and alone for days.

“The English picked me up and I ended up in an English hospital,” he said. “My father, he got a telegram that I was I was killed in action.”

Instead, he was wounded, which his family learned weeks later. He was able to rejoin his unit after D-Day.

He had shrapnel in his leg and foot and said he had to learn to walk again.

John was awarded a Purple Heart and a bronze star.

He prefers talking about the lighter memories from war, like the time he and his buddies plotted a trip to Rome.

“Couple of the other guys, they stole a jeep. All the jeeps had the same key,” he explained. The group ended up meeting Pope Pius XII.

“He put his hand out, and I kissed his ring, the papal ring. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you meet a pope,” he said. “He spoke English. And he said Philadelphia or Pittsburgh?”

John has three children. Debra is his oldest and says nothing seems to slow him down.

“You never know. Every day is a gift right now,” he said.

John shared 71 years with his wife Edith.

He preaches and practices hard work and joked he would rather be doing that on his 100th birthday than having a party.

“There’s gonna be a party. I have nothing to do with that. I wanted it here with a hot dog and help me out in the garden pulling weeds,” he said.

“I’m gonna say goodbye. Everybody pack up and leave,” he said with a smile.

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