100th birthday advice: You can’t live without being healthy

Noella Chalifoux combined her keen business sense with her heart for service, leaving a lasting impression on every guest she met.

  • Kissimmee resident Noella Chalifoux celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends—and 100 candles on her birthday cake. (Photo/Jennifer Chalifoux)
    Kissimmee resident Noella Chalifoux celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends—and 100 candles on her birthday cake. (Photo/Jennifer Chalifoux)

    Every birthday is a special one, but not everyone has the chance to celebrate their 100th birthday.

    Noella Chalifoux (Lupien) was born on Dec. 21, 1925, in Holyoke, Mass. She was the eldest daughter of her father and mother, Napoleon and Florida Lupien. Growing up during the Great Depression, Noella and her brother left school early to help support their 10 younger siblings.

    Although she gave up her dream of becoming a nurse, she remained a selfless caretaker for her family throughout her life. During World War II, while working in a parachute factory, she was introduced to her future husband, Thomas Chalifoux (Tom), by his mother. Recognizing a shared ambition for a better future, they married in November 1944, while Tom was on leave from the U.S. Navy.

    While Tom built the foundations of their house, Noella built the foundation of their family. Together, they had seven children: Jane, Thomas, Richard, Harry, Ann, John, and Marie.

    In 1971, as the world looked toward the opening of Walt Disney World Resort, the Chalifoux family made the move from Massachusetts to Florida. While the older children had begun their own adult lives, the younger children began school in St. Cloud and Kissimmee.

    Noella’s lifelong interest in business came to fruition when she managed the family’s motel in Kissimmee for five years. There, she combined her keen business sense with her heart for service, leaving a lasting impression on every guest she met.

    So, what’s the secret to living to 100 years old? Noella says, “There is no secret — but you can’t live without being healthy!”

    Even at 100, she finds time every day to walk. Morning or night, she says she walks outside “when the weather is good.” And when the weather isn’t so good, she walks indoors.

    In her 100 years of life, Noella has seen the biggest world events, innovations, and inventions of the century.

    “I don’t think about my past,” Noella says. “I’m always looking forward.” Maybe that’s the secret, after all.

    Marie Chalifoux contributed to this story.