EAST BERNE — August 14 marks a century for Elizabeth Griessler.

The second oldest in a family of nine brothers and sisters, she is the only living sibling.

To celebrate, Mrs. Griessler’s family and a few close friends will be throwing a party at the Chariot Restaurant in Guilderland, where she will meet her great-great-grandchild for the first time.

Born in the United States to a Hungarian family, Mrs. Griessler moved to Hungary with her sister and mother when she was just a year old. She remained there until she was 16. Then she moved back to the States, to New York City, with her sister, Mary. While living in New York City, Mrs. Griessler and her sister worked for a wealthy family on Park Avenue. Mary worked as a cook, and Mrs. Griessler worked as a chambermaid.

The two spoke only Hungarian, and they attended night school to learn English. Mrs. Griessler visited her mother in Hungary once after moving to the United States — in 1965 with her husband, daughter, and son-in-law. Her mother died one year later.
"It was good we’d all gone," said Mrs. Griessler’s daughter, Eleanor Giebitz.

As her mother’s birthday approaches, she has been busy compiling pictures for a collage. When the family gets together, Mrs. Giebitz said, she hopes to take pictures of all the family’s generations.

Mrs. Griessler met her husband, Frank, in New York City at a dance. After dating for nearly two years, they were married in 1929. Mrs. Griessler gave birth to her son, Paul, in 1930, and, in 1931, the small family moved upstate, where they owned a dairy farm in Duanesburg for many years. Their milk was sold to the Pine Grove in Duanesburg.
"I like the country better," Mrs. Griessler said.

Her husband, Frank Griessler, who was five years older, died in the 1970s.
Mrs. Griessler still lives in her East Berne home. Because she no longer drives or cooks, Mrs. Giebitz often acts as her "chauffeur," she said, and cooks her mother’s meals.

Mrs. Giebitz and her husband live just a few doors down, and Mrs. Giebitz works nearby at Helderberg Bluestone and Marble.

Mrs. Griessler’s home on the Helderberg Trail in East Berne is filled with many mementos. In her living room, photographs of grandchildren rest on her TV stand, a large picture of her wedding day hangs on a wall, and many vases sit on a shelf in her bay window.

Though she no longer cooks or drives a car, Mrs. Griessler continues to stay active in a variety of ways.

She meets with senior citizens once a month and attends church at Saint Bernadette Church in Berne every Sunday.

She also watches TV, reads the newspaper, and plays pinochle once a week.
"Not for money," Mrs. Griessler said.