A Leap of Years : Bellflower Woman Celebrates 24th Birthday--and 100th Year

No wonder Josephine Carozzo laughs when people tell her she doesn’t look her age.

“Well, I’m only 24,� says the white-haired Bellflower resident.

The secret to aging gracefully is only having to face another birthday once every four years, Carozzo is quick to explain.

Born a leap year baby on Feb. 29, 1896, the former seamstress turns 100 today. But she’s even younger than you think.

Thanks to the quirkiness of the leap year calendar, she didn’t experience an actual birthday until age 8. That was back in 1904.

“It makes me feel good,� Carozzo says of her unusual luck.

Leap year normally occurs every four years. That’s when an extra day--Feb. 29--is tacked onto calendars to compensate for the 365.242 days that it takes the Earth to make its annual trip around the sun.

But because .242 does not quite equal one-quarter of a day, an additional adjustment must be made to keep the calendar in line with the seasons. So leap year is not observed on centennial years that cannot be divided by the number 400.

The year 1900 was one of them--which means that this is Carozzo’s 24th birthday, not her 25th.

Carozzo is among at least 33 Americans enjoying that 100-year birthday bonus today. It’s an unofficial tally, though: The only one who keeps tabs on those celebrating their 100th or more birthday these days is “Today� show personality Willard Scott.

Younger leap year babies say they also have plenty to celebrate today.

About 50 of them are expected to gather in tiny Anthony, Texas-New Mexico (the town straddles the state lines) for the quadrennial meeting of the Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club. The club was formed there in 1988 and boasts 300 members. Dues are $20 every four years.

“Leap year is always puzzling to children. I think it’s equally puzzling to adults,� said club President Mary Ann Brown, 64, who is observing her 16th birthday today. She and fellow club members will be honored with fireworks, a banquet and a parade “that will start in New Mexico and end up in Texas.�

As for Carozzo, her friends started celebrating her 24th birthday early at the Bellflower retirement home where she has lived nine years. A few days ago there was a party with cake, a City Council resolution and a pinata--which the feisty Carozzo pummeled with a stick.

Today she is celebrating the real thing in Dana Point with daughter Ann Marie Trimm, other local family members and relatives from Ohio. That is where the Italian-born Carozzo settled in 1920 with her late steelworker husband, Remigio. She was a skilled seamstress when she moved to Long Beach in 1958.

Carozzo has lived most of her life modestly. She made many of the clothes worn by her daughter and a son, Richard, who died at age 19 in World War II. She also handcrafted clothing for friends.

Pat Knudsen, a friend for 43 years, remembers buying expensive dresses and taking them to Carozzo. “She’d make patterns out of newspapers and duplicate it so I could take the store’s dress back the next day,� Knudsen said.

“My mother has never been one to live in the past. She is a person who looks forward to tomorrow,� said Trimm, 67.

These days, Carozzo still crochets and knits for friends, enjoys wine with dinner, and loves pizza and beer.

“She doesn’t act 100,� said another longtime friend, Maryann Albus of Long Beach.

More like 24.