Feb 12, 2016 4 min read

Nancy Sobolewski enjoys telling tales about her older sister, Theresa Broglia – especially those about Theresa’s generous nature.

“Everybody was somebody to her,” said Nancy, noting that friends and family never left Theresa’s home empty-handed. “A neighbor said, ‘Hey, Theresa. What are you doing, selling dope? Everybody comes out of your house with a package.'”

Considering Theresa lived in Canonsburg for 96 years, that’s a goodly amount of packages.

And today, Theresa may get a package or two of her own as the Strabane Woods resident turns 102 years old.

“I don’t feel 102,” she said.

Theresa was born Feb. 12, 1914, at home in Canonsburg, the eldest of Philip and Rose Imperatore’s four children. Her brothers, Joe “Scubby” Imperatore and Frank Imperatore, died in 1996 and 2006, respectively. Joe was 78; Frank was 89. Nancy will be 92 in June.

Theresa’s compassion for others was evident at a young age, as she always played the role of protective big sister.

“Whenever I was about to get hit, she would say ‘run.’ I would run and hide behind her,” said Nancy, who also resides at Strabane Woods.

That strategy worked to a point. Addressing Theresa, their mother would say, “If you don’t move, I’ll hit you, too.” So, Theresa ran.

“Mother was strict,” Theresa said. But then, most parents were, she recalled.

“In my days, it was different,” she said. “If you had a boy at the house, you were never alone.”

Her parents would keep a watchful eye on Theresa and her beau, or they would tell Nancy to spy on her big sister.

When their father wanted to go to bed, it was time for the boy to leave.

“He would be halfway up the steps, and by the time he reached the top, the boy would be out the door,” Theresa said. “Everybody would just sit around until it would be time to go to bed. Those were the good old days.”

The “good old days” for Theresa also included frequent junkets to Forbes Field, where the avid baseball fan often would attend doubleheaders, sometimes with children in the neighborhood. Once, she even chased down Roberto Clemente outside the stadium.

Her daughter, Anita “Cookie” Stopperich of Canonsburg, remembers her mother listening to the Pirates on the radio, using what today would be known as earbuds, while watching “Gunsmoke.”

Cookie said her mother also was a big fan of Harry “The Hat” Walker, who won the National Leage batting title in 1947 while playing with the Philadelphia Phillies. When he was the manager of the Pirates in the mid-1960s, Cookie said Theresa made her husband, Dominick “Mayo” Broglia, take her to the airport when the team returned from spring training so she could meet Walker.

Nancy also fondly recalls the many times Theresa would pitch to the neighborhood kids in the street.

“She was a housewife, and she would be wearing a muu-muu and nylons, and she would be throwing baseballs to the kids,” Nancy said. “The kids loved her.”

Whenever one of the neighbors would call the police complaining about the kids playing ball, the youngsters would scatter, and Theresa would chat with the officers until all was well.

Theresa and Mayo had two children of their own, Cookie and Dominic Broglia of McDonald. When asked how long the couple were married, Theresa said, “Not long enough.” Mayo died at age 65, seven years shy of the couple’s 50th wedding annivesary.

Theresa also has five grandchildren, Dominic Broglia, Lauren Giovannini and P. Shawn, Todd and Brad Stopperich, and 13 great-grandchildren.

She was an active member of St. Genevieve Church in Canonsburg, where she was involved with the Christian Mothers, and Theresa, along with seven other Canonsburg-area women, organized a card club whose longtime existence far outlasted some of its founding members.

“She was a card shark,” Cookie said. “She would always win.”

And a testament of Theresa’s toughness – and loyalty – was evident in a story published Feb. 6, 2008, in the Observer-Reporter about the women celebrating the 60th anniversary of the club’s founding. Theresa underwent a root canal at 4 p.m., and by 5:30, she was sitting at Pizza Hut in Canonsburg, determined to celebrate the 88th birthday of her dear friend, Antoinette Sebelia. Theresa couldn’t eat, but it didn’t matter.

“I didn’t want to miss this,” she said.