Dwello "Dewey" DePippo wore something special yesterday to celebrate his 24th birthday: A sleek new three-button suit. "It's gray," he said with a wistful laugh, "just like my hair."
Born on Leap Day in 1912, DePippo is actually 96. Like presidential elections and the summer Olympics, he has always made a "big splash" every four years, when his actual birthday appeared on the calendar.
But from childhood celebrations that drew his entire neighborhood in Fall River to dancing until dawn with Navy buddies, DePippo said he never got drunk and never over-did it. Last night, he planned to savor just a tipple of Johnnie Walker Black at an 80-person banquet in his honor.
Moderation is how he said he made it to birthday number 24.
"I've never been drunk - not in my whole life," said DePippo, who lives in Methuen.
That's the advice he offers to 7-pound, 15-ounce Benicio "Benny" Curcio, one of at least five Leap Day babies born yesterday at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. Don't go too crazy when you celebrate your birthday every four years.
"I lived this long because I haven't been a bad boy, if you get my drift," DePippo said. "And I've been good to people, and people have been good to me."
ANDREW RYAN
