SHE LOVES TO WORK: Princeton native Angeline Cifelli, center, shown with her son Anthony Cifelli and granddaughter Kim Lucas, says work is the key to her longevity. At Valley Road School, Princeton University, and a deli that was located where Hoagie Haven is today, she turned out thousands of lunches for generations of Princeton students and residents. She is celebrating her 100th birthday this weekend with family and friends.

Even as she closes in on 100, Angeline Cifelli can’t sit still. Seated in the solarium at Morris Hall on a recent morning, she used one foot to rock her wheelchair back and forth while reviewing her life, nearly all ten decades of which has been spent in Princeton.

She was born Angeline Pinelli on November 16, 1915. Her mother, who was from the Nini family, had come to Princeton in 1912. The Pinellis had 11 children, and Mrs. Cifelli is the only survivor of all her siblings. Five generations of her family will gather this Sunday to celebrate her centennial at a special brunch/breakfast in the Hilton Garden Inn. On the actual birthday, Mrs. Cifelli will entertain friends with a pizza party at Morris Hall in Lawrenceville, where she has lived for the past three years.

The secret of her longevity? “I love to work,” Mrs. Cifelli said, matter-of-factly. “I was taught to work. We worked hard, but we had a lot of fun.”

She’s still at it. “Nana hustles down to the dining room early before meals so she can fold the napkins,” says Mrs. Cifelli’s granddaughter Kim Lucas, who lives in Chesterfield. “She just loves being busy.”

Mrs. Cifelli grew up in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood and went to Valley Road School until seventh grade, when she joined other siblings helping to make ends meet. “We were babysitters, we cleaned houses,” she said. “We did everything.” She married and had four sons, but found time to work in the Princeton University laundry and make lunches at Valley Road School for 12 years until retiring in the 1960s. Several family members worked for the University as electricians, and Cifelli Electrical Inc. continues today.

With her twin sister Jane, Mrs. Cifelli owned and operated The Next Deli “for around 10 years,” she recalled. “We sold sandwiches to the students.” The deli is now the site of Hoagie Haven. Back before Princeton University was coeducational, she would put up girls who were visiting for football weekends. “I remember, because we’d get kicked out of our bedrooms,” Mrs. Cifelli’s youngest son, Anthony, recalled with a laugh.

To house their growing family, Mrs. Cifelli and her husband, Nicholas, built a house on Linden Lane. “We bought two lots for $800 in 1948,” she said. “It was on the corner of Linden, Franklin, and Ewing. We built it ourselves.”

Life was lively at the family headquarters on Linden Lane. “Nana’s house was always the revolving door for family and cousins,” Ms. Lucas recalled. Her uncle added, “My mother’s whole life revolved around food. We loved pencil points and pasta, but Dad liked red meat. So she made it all.” Mrs. Cifelli still goes to her granddaughter’s home on holidays to help out with the cooking. “She was always known for her meatballs and her pastina soup,” Ms. Lucas said. “And she still makes egg biscuits and cookies.”

With her husband, Mrs. Cifelli traveled all over the United States and visited Italy, where he was born. She has warm memories of evenings with her siblings, who would gather on weekend nights to play cards,

 especially after their spouses had died.

Ms. Lucas makes occasional excursions with her grandmother to the Philadelphia Park Casino on Street Road. “Nana loves to gamble,” she said. “She did a lot of football pools. She watched lots of sports — golf, football — and would bet on football every week.”

Mrs. Cifelli nodded and smiled as her son and granddaughter talked about her life. “I got all good kids. Very good kids,” she said. “And I feel like I was born yesterday.”