Anna Gravitz and Eleanor Seigel celebrate their 100th birthdays.
By Sherry Nabbie-Singh
In the midst of one of the darkest and saddest times this world has experienced, the light of two Kings Point residents continues to shine as they celebrate their 100th birthday just one day apart.
The celebrations of Anna Gravitz, born on June 30 in Brooklyn, New York, and Eleanor Seigel, on July 1, in West New York, New Jersey, included proclamations by Tamarac Mayor Michelle Gomez and Cooper City Mayor Gregg Ross.
On Monday, Seigel, who enjoys dancing, made sure to wear her dancing shoes for her party at Café Vico in North Miami with friends and family. Her family also held a small private dinner party for her on July 1.
Since Mayor Gomez wasn’t available, Gravitz enjoyed a limo ride to the Vienna Café and Bistro in Cooper City to meet Mayor Ross who presented her with a centenarian recognition certificate at her birthday luncheon on June 29.
Anna Gravitz
Since Gravitz has no surviving relatives, the more intimate birthday celebrations took place June 30 with her caretaker Gloria Ego and her live-in aide.
Her parents Benjamin and Gussie Abrams, were Russian immigrants, and she had one older sister Sylvia, who also lived to 100 years old. After moving to Flushing, NY, Gravitz attended PS148 during her junior high school years. While she never attended college, she became a bookkeeper and a legal secretary.
In 1941, she married Morty Gravitz, who worked for Coca-Cola in New York. The couple had no children and would visit Florida as snowbirds from 1979 until Gravitz became a permanent resident at Kings Point in 1986 after Morty passed away.
Gravitz, an avid bowler in the past, enjoys playing mahjong — as Seigel — playing several times a week.
Gravitz was an active member of the League of Women Voters and, according to Ego, is very passionate about politics, even exercising her right to vote in the last general election, despite the limitations brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ego described Gravitz as a very smart woman who is also very sweet and caring. “This celebration for Anna and the joy it brought her as she was surrounded by love keeps us hopeful.”
Eleanor Seigel
Seigel, a former hairdresser, married Morris, a WWII veteran who lost both legs. They would have three children. In 1972, after retiring, the Seigel’s moved to North Miami. Upon the passing of Morris, she moved to Weldon in Kings Point in 1995.
According to her daughter Connie Seigel-Dennis, her mother is independent, takes excessive pride in her appearance, and is very opinionated.
“She is still driving herself to Publix for groceries, the hairdresser, and the nail salon.”
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