Patricia Bartevian on her 102nd birthday with gifts and a portrait of the Hickory Sisters (photo: Mina Rose Morales)
Patricia Elizabeth Bartevian is famous in Boston because of her age and her antique/ consignment shop, the Bartevian, adjacent to Emerson College on Boylston Street. Even at the age of 102, she spends every Monday-Saturday in her antique shop but comes home to Newton every night. Her family’s origin story, like many, begins with immigration, coming across the Atlantic Ocean and through states, but ends in Newton, where her family found a place to call home.
Along the way, the Bartevian sisters moved to Hollywood, where they were known as the Hickory Sisters, a performance group. They signed with the McConkey Music Corporation. After years of performing, the sisters returned to Massachusetts, at their parents’ request, to help with their antique business.
“Look at her. At 102, she comes to work every day,” said Bob Poirier when he arrived at the antiques shop with a rose and grapes to wish Bartevian a happy 102nd birthday on September 23.
Poirier recalls walking past Bartevian’s antique shop a couple of years ago and thinking, “I got to [go] in there. It’s like meeting the past.”
All during her birthday at the shop, Bartevian received phone calls from people wishing her happy birthday, and a few others delivered cards and flowers. According to Bartevian, she’s been receiving phone calls and gifts days before her birthday. Last year, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu presented her with a certificate of recognition: “In recognition of surpassing a century with strength, wisdom, and courage as a remarkable woman. Celebrating 101 years of spreading love and joy, may you continue to inspire us all.”
At 102, Bartevian, remembers her life’s journey, which she’s…