Most of us dream about retiring at 65 – not New Yorker Felimina Rotundo. The 100-year-old is still working hard at a busy city laundromat, and has no intention of quitting the rat race any time soon.
The inspiring centenarian works 11 hours a day, six days a week, washing and folding clothes.
“I don’t believe in retirement,” she tells Today. “I believe 65 is too young. If I retired at 65, what would I have done all these years? I would’ve gone crazy! I work because I love people. I want to be around people.”
Felimina, who turned 100 in August, started working when she was just 15. On top of raising two children with her late husband, she’s worked non-stop for the last 85 years.

Super centenarian, Felimina Rotundo.
“My first job was working at a shoe factory in Annville, Pennsylvania, when I was 15 years old,” she said. “Talk about slave labour! I was making about $10 a week, but I worked my 40 hours and never complained. I was glad to have a job.”
At 100, she’d be excused for winding down her hours, but Felimina has no plans to slow down. She believes working is the key to her good health and longevity.
“That’s why you have sick people in the old folk’s home. They didn’t have enough to do and their mind deteriorated.”
She hopes that her story will show society the value of the elderly.
“I think they throw old people away and forget about them,” she says. ”Not me. I want to keep working. If old people are working and independent, it makes them feel so much different.”