Hopeless romantics scored a victory against the cynics of the world within the warm home at 72 Catalpa Ave. in Riverside this past Saturday morning, Jan. 25.

It was the calm before the storm. Family and friends would soon flock to the house to give their well wishes and love to Jane Crowell in celebration of her 100th birthday. And if you were to sit and chat with Jane for a little while — everyone should be so lucky — it likely wouldn’t take long for the kindhearted woman to bring up one of the primary secrets to her longevity.

“I met Joseph when he was playing tennis. And I was trying to play tennis, but I wasn’t doing very well,” she said. “But he said I was anyways.”

Jane Crowell, born Jane Holt to a family that resided on the east side of Providence on Jan. 25, 1925, was referencing her late husband, Joseph Crowell. The two began dating after Crowell returned home from service as a member of the United States Navy during World War II, where he served aboard the same ship as his twin brother, Minot.

The two would marry in 1950, and spend the next 67 years together building their life together that prioritized mutual respect, educating youth, and serving their church and community. Both were longtime parishioners at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Riverside, where Joseph served as Senior Warden, Vestry Member and Delegate to statewide and national Episcopal Conventions.

“I think the love of the Lord was the thing that kept us together,” Jane said thinking back on her relationship with her husband.

And while their shared commitment to church galvanized their bond together throughout the decades, there is also no doubt that the love was very real between the two, and still resonates strongly within Jane despite Joseph’s passing in April of 2017. He was 92 years old.

“It doesn’t mean that we didn’t have arguments,” Jane said. “We had a woman visiting once and she said, ‘Oh, me and my husband never fight.’ I thought, either she’s not telling the truth or she has a dull marriage.”

Asked what moment she would re-live throughout her entire century’s-worth of memories, she thought about it for a second but promptly started reminiscing about their wedding day.

While looking at a photo from when the two of them were just dating back in August of 1947, Jane spotted and spoke about a specifically humorous detail depicted in the black and white image showing the happy, young couple.

“He was showing off his bandage,” she said, referencing a large dressing on Joseph’s left pinky finger. “His brother put a pitchfork through his finger by accident when they were working at a farm. And he wanted everyone to see that big bandage.”

Following their marriage, they briefly lived in a Pawtucket apartment before moving into the house on Catalpa.

“The only house we ever owned. And it was unfinished upstairs. If you went upstairs and opened the door, there was the sky,” Jane recalled. “We thought it was a palace.”

The home gave Joseph a place to practice his passion for gardening, which eventually led to a horticulture degree and their first job together. They started a flower shop called J F Crowell Florist in downtown Barrington, which operated from 1954 to 1959.

“You learned a lot about people while working there,” she said. “When you waited on people you had to be pleasant, no matter how you felt.”

Barrington would become an important part of their lives, as Joseph would move on to becoming a math teacher at Barrington Junior High, and later the high school, for 42 years. When St. Marks closed, they became regulars at Barrington Presbyterian Church.

“He was so great with the children,” Jane said.

No shortage of wisdom or joy
Although it is clear that Jane misses her husband every day, she also demonstrated that the true love they had together was not something that could be taken away, even by death itself.

“I go to Swan Point where Joe is buried a couple times a week, and it doesn’t make me sad. I feel as though he’s right there with the Lord,” she said. “I was just blessed to have been married to him. That’s how I feel.”

Jane said that she doesn’t quite know how or why she made it to 100 years old.

“I don’t know why I’m still here. I feel like I’m here for a reason,” she said. “I don’t know what it is, but the Lord knows.”

Her daughter, Carolyn, chimed in with a couple reasons.

“She walked a lot and she still walks. She and dad would walk this neighborhood and walk at Colt Park. She still likes her sweets but she always ate a good diet,” she said. “He lived to be 92 and she’s 100, so there’s something to it. She cooks right and she eats right.”

Jane still lives at the Catalpa Avenue home. She has a caretaker, Marilyn Del Sesto, who helps out with chores and visits her daily. But otherwise, this joyful centenarian is still living mostly independent and gets around better than many people much younger than her.

And not only is she still thriving physically, but cognitively as well. Asked what she thought of the world today versus the world she grew up in, Jane had plenty of positive wisdom on how things have changed.

“In some ways, a lot of the young people are much smarter than we were,” she said. “I like to listen to them and get their opinions. I think they’re more apt to express themselves now. They’re more apt to say things out loud in front of people.”

“I think it’s better,” she continued. “I think men are more apt to talk to women more honestly and how they really feel. I don’t think we talked that way…I just think it’s important for men to express themselves honestly to girls and be honest with them.”

Before the rest of her family showed up, which includes her two granddaughters, two great-grandchildren, her son Peter, and a large crowd of family friends made throughout the decades, Jane was able to impart one lasting piece of advice.

“In the end, life is short when you think about it. It went by fast.”