Levittown-Area Women Talk About Their Successes as Part of Women’s History Month

Over the course of several weeks during March, seven successful women from across the Lower Bucks area met with LevittownNow.com to discuss not only what has helped build them into the prospering women that they are, but what advice they have for everyday ladies in the area. The following is to celebrate March as ‘Women’s History Month.’

Jacqui Redner, Pennsbury School Board President, sits comfortably, wearing a scarf and red coat, sipping a large coffee in what she calls her favorite place in the world, a bookstore. The mother of five grown boys, lives quite a busy life. A life she describes as ‘surrounded by men’. Redner, in addition to being a busy mom and wife, is a true force to be reckoned with in Falls Township, but if you ask her, she doesn’t consider herself a politician, and still to this day, is surprised she ever started working in government.

Redner recalls talking with two teachers while running on a treadmill several years ago. “They asked if I was interested in running for school board, and I said, ‘Oh no!’,” she said while chuckling. “But I came home and told my husband that I gave them my phone number but I knew they would never call, and then they called. Then I was told and convinced that I would never win because no one knew who I was, and then, I won.”

Redner, who never had been involved in politics before, became determined to fight for all the children in the Pennsbury School District, hoping that her future grandchildren will one day benefit from decisions she makes. This ‘fire’ that keeps Redner busy has given her confidence in what she does, something she never knew she had. “Even though I am strong willed, everyone has their insecurities,” she said. “I always wondered and worried about what other people thought about me, so many said I was a dumb blonde that couldn’t string two sentences together. Well sometimes you need to take a step back, and I have always learned a lot more by keeping my mouth shut and listening to everything around me,” she told LevittownNow.com.

Redner is a passionate female, constantly surrounded by men, but she said this has never intimidated her, and if anything, makes her more comfortable. “A girl can do anything a guy can do!” she said with passion. ” The balance is harder now, I don’t get nearly as much laundry done, but it’s about time for women to understand [that] they can have that balance, women can have jobs, have and raise children, they can do it all.”

Maria Marucci-Smith knows all about being strong, and breaking down low expectations. The owner of Maria’s Dye In Style! in Bristol Borough first encountered some negativity when she first opened her salon. “Bristol Borough is a small town, and with that came some comments and negativity,” she said. “They said I would end up like other businesses in the Borough and that I would close. But look at me now! You can never let anybody get in your way, its all about perseverance.”

Marucci-Smith was raised in the borough and grew up visiting her Aunt Josephine, who ran a full salon on Beaver Street. She recalls being allowed to play there as a young girl and loving the experience. With some proper encouragement from her dad, when she entered high school, she chose Bucks County Technical High School for its cosmetology program. “My main concern was making sure I still would be allowed and able to play sports!” she said.

It wasn’t long before a space became available in the borough and her dad was encouraging her to start her own business. “I didn’t feel ready, but my dad lovingly pushed me to do it,” she said. “So I was able to save enough money for first and last months rent on the building, with $500 left to my name. I opened in 2008 and made my money back in the first week.”

Marucci-Smith says she developed her drive from her parents and her might from her brothers. “I was always taught to fight my own battles and that I was responsible for all of my outcomes,” she said. “If you don’t get opportunities, you just have to go out and make them for yourself.”

Amber Longhitano knows all about the importance of opportunity. The Bristol Township council member was raised by her mom, a woman who grew up in Britain during the war. “Growing up in my house and around my mother was pretty amazing,” she said. “Everything my mother said referenced the war, but it taught me many important things, that I could survive anything and that I was born in the greatest country in the world.”

Longhitano grew up in Bristol Township and became very frustrated when as a realtor, she couldn’t sell houses in her own township. “We all have a stake in this township,” she said. “So I went to council and pleaded for help, when I didn’t get the help I needed I joined up with others who wanted better for Bristol Township, believing there is power in numbers.”

Longhitano said she learned very quickly from her mother that as people, and especially as women, we need to learn to overcome and adapt to any situation. “If you see a mountain along your path, move it out of the way!”

As a true believer in nature and positive energy, Longhitano believes that she is at the stage in her life where its time for her to fight for others. “To be a great leader, you need compassion, intelligence and common sense, and as women we have been running houses, and balancing budgets, and taking care of others, things all great leaders are supposed to do,” she said.

Tina Davis knows about being a strong woman, but like Redner, she never pictured a life in politics. “When I was nine months pregnant, because of Croydon’s lack of a drainage system, my street became flooded. I went to council, the roads commission, and was part of a seven month study with engineers to fix the issue.” Davis, now represents District 141 as State Representative.

“I was always taught to work hard and so I got a job young,” she said. “Everyone in my family was a hard worker and I had to overcome a lot to become the strong woman I am today.” Davis said she grew up the most, however, in dealing with the loss of her father. “I never felt mature until my father died, it was a real transformation for me,” she said. “I gained a lot of wisdom and I found that I stopped caring about me altogether.”

The busy politician, wife, and mom of three, certainly has a lot on her plate, but says that any woman can do anything she wishes, given the right mind set and motivation. “Not everyone has a good home life, but that can’t be an excuse,” she said. “The whole key is to understand that you aren’t the only one in that situation; get out and start exercising, you can feel healthy and feel better about yourself,” she said.

Diane Marseglia knows about overcoming difficult situations, but has never let it get in her way of accomplishing her personal goals, and her goals for the county. The Bucks County Commissioner said she was born independent and that it was nurtured by her Lower Makefield family. Marseglia’s parents and their friends were involved in politics and she recalls understanding at a young age how important government was. “I learned early on that I wanted to make a difference in the world, and that government was the way I could accomplish that,” she said.

Marseglia lives and breathes each day understanding that she is unknowingly someone’s role model, and that helps to keep her in check as a politician. “People are always watching and you never know who may come back and say that you were a positive role model in their life.” Women need role models, Marseglia knows that, but she also wants women to understand that they can’t always be so hard on themselves. “You can do as much as you can, it’s hard to do everything perfect,” she said reassuringly. “Good enough is good enough, and as a mom, it is ok and healthy to have other things going on in your life, that’s good for you and your kids.”

The county commissioner whose made it her mission to battle injustice and pleads for policies that protect all people said all she ever wanted to do was be a mother. After losing her daughter, Marseglia said she grew immensely as a woman, using that event as a marker in her life. “Life delivers ways of coping to you, I learned after dealing with that that nothing else could happen in my life to hurt me as bad as that did,” she said. “Give yourself permission to do what you need to do, find your path and grieve that way.”

Marseglia hopes to leave the world a better place. “I want people to remember me for introducing and making changes,” she said. “People may think I’m strong because I am rather frank, but I’m only five feet tall! I’m hard when I need to be, to get things done.”

Sharon O’Connell is quite the firecracker in Penndel, and she knows all about being a strong woman. O’Connell has successfully run The Coffee Cup Café on Bellevue Avenue for the last 25 years. Take one walk through her small restaurant and the humor and family atmosphere is evident. “What we give you tastes good, and I pride myself on that,” she said. “Nowhere do I go that people don’t compliment me on this place.”

O’Connell grew up in Center City and moved to the Bucks County area her freshman year of high school where she lived in Langhorne Gardens and attended Bishop Egan. O’Connell recalls never following the crowd and always having fantastic relationships with her teachers. “We didn’t have a lot of money at home and when I came home from school, I had to get dinner ready for my family,” she said. “I’ve always been responsible and that made me able to handle all of life’s nonsense.”

O’Connell worked in a number of jobs, doing bookkeeping, catering, bartending, and cooking, before buying the failing business some 25 years ago, a business named Kelly’s. “I [had] never even cooked breakfast before,” she said. “But we cooked everything fresh, put out a good product, and when people are here we make them feel at home, they are all family to us.”

While O’Connell makes it look easy now, she didn’t have a completely streamlined beginning running the business. Years ago, a business moved to the borough to compete with her, selling their breakfast for only $1. Her husband got worried, thinking their prices may put her out of business. “I knew they couldn’t sustain themselves that way, and lets just say I bought this counter top at their auction for $50.”

“I have taken everything I have learned in the past 20 years before I bought this business and brought it here and that has helped sustain me,” she said. “Now I am retired and I just cook on Sundays to keep my hands in it. It feels incredible to have my daughter and grandson running it with me now. I hope I can do this until the day I die.”

Constance Moore also lives and breathes for family. The single grandmother has custody of her granddaughter and takes pride in raising her to be another strong and powerful woman in the area. After accepting custody, Moore was scoping out elementary schools and took a spot on the Bristol Township School Board as a way of being an active part in her granddaughters education.

“I don’t see why people think I am a big deal,” she said. “I just make sure everything in the school district is working right. I may be a politician, but I don’t let that rule me. I see myself as an average, everyday person.”

Moore believes that children are the future and that we should all be fighting for them. As a woman whose mother was involved in politics, she said she now understands how difficult fighting for the underdog can be. “I just enjoy helping people and being a part of something that makes a difference,” she said. “I hope to be a role model for my granddaughter, what I do I don’t do to leave a legacy.”

As a girl, Moore was always taught to stand up for what she believes in and that she could be anything she wanted to be; helping children though is what she’s always felt a calling to. She recalled situations where teens in her Bloomdale-Fleetwing neighborhood have sought her for advice. “I don’t talk, I just show compassion and love and I listen. I encourage them to write down their feelings and pray about it, if a child ever is asking for help, it must be tough.”

Moore, despite the poor reputation her neighborhood has received over the years, is determined to stay there. She told LevittownNow.com she feels the area changing and that hope is being restored. Like she said, she’s always playing for the underdog.

The following women have been real influences in their community, helping to aspire more women of younger generations to do the same. Although there are many qualities they feel represent a strong woman, the one they all agreed on was honesty. “More women need to be honest and confident,” Marucci-Smith said. “It surprises people, especially men!”