ROSELLE, NJ — Happy birthday, Celia Reid Ringer, of Roselle, 100 years young on April 9. A century of life is a long time. To gain a little perspective on that, just ponder what history records about April 9, 1922, the day she was born. According to an internet search, that was the day that Charles Lindbergh, who in 1927 became the first pilot to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean, took his first flying lesson. Imagine: Ringer came into this world when Lindbergh was just getting off the ground. And now there are more than 1,750 trans-Atlantic flights per day. That is how long ago she was born.
Ringer was born and raised in Sparks, Ga. Her mother was a domestic and her father a laborer for the Southern Railway Co. In a recent interview at her Roselle home, Ringer said her parents were good people, ready to help others.
Ringer attended Ballard Normal School, in Macon, Ga., and went to Paine College in Augusta, Ga., where she majored in home economics. She came to New Jersey in 1945 to live in Elizabeth with her aunt, Louise Johnson.
“I was looking for better employment,” Ringer said.
She worked as a federal employee in veteran benefits, on the 13th floor of a building across from Macy’s in downtown Newark, she said, for about three years. She was married in January 1946 to James P. Reid, whom she had met in high school and corresponded with while he was in the armed forces.
“He was a wonderful person,” Ringer said. “Very mild. A good father and man. A very smart person. He went to school for carpentry and was a carpenter. We bought our first house in Roselle in 1947 on Ninth Avenue. It was a good life.”
The couple had four children — three boys and a girl.
“Three of my children are deceased,” she said. “The girl and two of my sons. All were college graduates.”
Ringer’s husband, James, died in 1966, at the age of 47. In 1968, she moved to her current home on White Street. She remarried in 1976 to Ernest J. Ringer.
When her children were young, Ringer quit her federal job to raise her family. But when they got into high school and were more independent, she decided to enroll at Kean College, a university now, to obtain her New Jersey teaching certification for elementary education. She then received her certification for special education and taught in the Westfield School District for 18 years. She retired in 1986.
“After my husband passed, I needed more income,” she said. “I wanted to send my kids to college, and teaching was a good job back then.”
After retiring from teaching, she volunteered for the Union County Minority Task Force on Aging. On display in her home is a certificate of appreciation for 25 years of volunteer service.
Ringer has four granddaughters. She loves to travel and has been to England, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Hawaii, which she exclaimed was “beautiful.” She would like someday to visit Japan.
On Saturday, April 9, her birthday was celebrated at the Galloping Hill Inn, with more than 80 people in attendance, including Roselle Mayor Donald Shaw. Ringer received proclamations from Gov. Phil Murphy, Sen. Cory Booker, a resolution from the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly and others.
Ringer said her life has been challenging at times.
“But there were times when it was most beautiful,” she said. “I managed through prayer. I’m a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I’ve been a member for 72 years. I really love people. I love to be around them and to help them. My mother and father were always good about helping people. That’s inborn. My mother and father always reached out to people.”
Photo by Daniel Jackovino