WORCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A 102-year-old Worcester woman was honored with a diploma on Thursday.
Antoinette “Ginger” Rinaldi received an honorary high school diploma from the Worcester School Committee, Mayor Joseph Petty, and Superintendent Rachel Monárrez.
Rinaldi was born on January 8, 1921, and grew up on Shrewsbury Street, where she continues to live to this day. Her parents were Italian immigrants.
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Rinaldi also received an American Red Cross Disaster Services Award for helping families affected by the Cold Storage Fire that killed six Worcester firefighters in 1999. She has also been recognized with the Key to the City of Worcester and the Distinguished Citizen from The Sons and Daughters of Italy, Worcester Public Schools wrote.
She started working at age 12 as a nanny and went on to become one of the first women to work at the American Steel and Wire Company at the age of 14. Rinaldi went on to become a seamstress at Worcester Knitting and worked in the cafeteria at Forest Grove Junior High Schol and Doherty Memorial High School after she gave birth to her sons.