Family's Five Generations Gather

Eddie Albert and Rose Sabo-Albert are members of the Gulf High Class of 1979.

This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on April 18, 2003.

By STEVE KORNACKI

GULFPORT - Janet Larson, 104, looked into the eyes of her great-great-granddaughter, Heaven Rose Batista, and leaned in to kiss the baby. What a moment.

``I can't get over it,'' Larson said. ``What a gorgeous child! And to live this long to see all of this. And to have all of my marbles, too!''

Larson and Heaven are the bookends of a five-generation family with strong Pasco County ties. They all got together for the first time Thursday at the family matriarch's home in south Pinellas County.

Isobel Sabo, 79, raised her two children in New Port Richey but now lives in Gulfport with her mother. Carl Sabo, 44, and Rose Sabo-Albert, 43, both graduated from Gulf High School. And Sabo-Albert's daughter, Katrina Canosa, 20, graduated from Ridgewood High School.

Canosa gave birth to Heaven on New Year's Day at 9:20 a.m.

``Heaven is a name that fits her,'' said the young mother. ``She's my heaven.''

The three youngest members of the five- generation family recently have relocated to Alexandria, Va., where Sabo-Albert's husband, Eddie Albert, is president of UnionLink Communications.

Canosa was asked if she could envision some day being in her great-grandmother's shoes, looking forward to four generations.

``No,'' she said. ``Oh, I don't know. But I do hope to live to tell stories like she does. It's neat stuff.''

Larson shook her head, saying, ``But I've lived too long.''

Canosa said, ``I've told you that you are going to live until my kids have kids. I'm not ready to lose you any time soon.''

Escaping The Servant's Life

Larson was born Janet Begg Ross on May 17, 1898, in Aberdeen, Scotland. She left Scotland in 1915 as an indentured servant and lived in Chicago, where she met two legendary crime figures.

``Al Capone and Bugsy Siegel were so good to the kids there,'' she said. ``Al asked if I could go free from Colonel Strong. I was bound to him until I was 25. Colonel Strong said I could. He allowed me to work elsewhere during the day, but I had to come back to the South Side every night. He brought over three governesses for his family, and my friend and I were housemaids.''

Larson's sister brought her to Toronto at 25.

``I married Isobel's dad, who was a playboy I had to get rid of,'' Larson said. ``But then I married Oscar Dombremont, the best man I ever knew. I had him for 25 years.''

They started and operated two fishing camps in northern Ontario, and she married Elmer Larson after Dombremont died. Larson died seven years after their marriage, and she settled in Florida in 1969.

She was asked for tips to a long, healthy life.

``Always be positive,'' Larson said. ``Isn't that a good idea? And always walk away from trouble. But I've been real lucky. And move to Florida - you live a lot longer here.''

Isobel Sabo didn't marry until she was 40, and her husband died eight years later. She raised Rose and Carl in New Port Richey, spending summers in the Cleveland area.

``We were raised in the Mormon church, and that kept us very busy,'' Sabo-Albert said. ``We went to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hudson. There was always church dances, swimming, basketball and volleyball.''

She married Eddie Albert, her longtime friend from New Port Richey, in October on St. Pete Beach.

``Eddie and I walked to school, both Gulf High and Gulf Junior High, together,'' Rose said. ``We stayed in touch through the years, and he came back to visit three years ago when both of us were single. So, we began dating, and now we're married.

``Eddie worked in the Pentagon on Sept. 11 [2001] as a private contractor. That was such a horrible day. It shook our building five miles away when the plane hit. When I learned it hit the Pentagon, I started crying. But he made it fine.''

Katrina Canosa is in the Army Reserves and on maternity leave from her job as a chemical operations specialist.

Isobel Sabo brought out a scrapbook she made for her mother. Inside it are letters from President Bill Clinton, England's Queen Elizabeth and Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien, celebrating Larson's 100th birthday.

``Without family and friends,'' she said, ``you'd be in a gully. But I've been so lucky; we've all been so lucky. At least I won't be forgotten.''