Connecticut Families: Willimantic woman turns 106 with loving family by her side

WILLIMANTIC, Conn. (WTNH) — A longtime resident of a nursing facility in Willimantic just turned 106-years-old and her community rallied around her and her beautiful spirit.

Family gathered at Vanderman Place to celebrate this incredible milestone.

“Well, right now, I’m 106,” said Connie Hrenuk, who is extremely humble about her life.

When asked to share her secret to longevity, she said: “I don’t know!”

Born in Norway, Hrenuk lived in Brooklyn until the age of 10, when the family relocated to Storrs, here in Connecticut.

She worked at a button factory until she met her future husband at a fair.

“She was a homemaker, she enjoyed decorating her home,” her daughter Nancy Hopkins of Willimantic read from a letter penned by Hrenuk’s grandson. “She was always happy to help and to give. You are a generous and sacrificial person, Grammy.”

Now, Hrenuk enjoys a fish lunch with her daughter everyday and she loves to cuddle a baby doll, bringing her back to her time as a caretaker.

“Connie makes my day. Every time I go to her room, she makes me smile. She’s always smiling,” said Hector Lizardi, a certified nursing assistant at Vanderman Place.

Friends at Vanderman Place recently threw her a birthday party full of love and gratitude.

“She’s got a positive attitude, you know, she never has anything negative to say,” Pamela Burnett, director of recreation at Vanderman Place said. “She makes you happy.”

So, what’s Hrenuk’s secret to longevity? It seems clear: being a good and pure person, someone who prioritizes the simple and special aspects of life.

“She’s an idol, someone for us to look up to,” Burnett said.

Here’s an interesting fact: Hrenuk has lived through two pandemics- the Spanish Flu and COVID.

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