Leo Carroll Jewelers

It’s probably safe to say that Leo Carroll has no rivals for the oldest memories of Inman Square. S&S Deli was only 5, after all, when Carroll’s mother delivered her third – and youngest – son at the family’s tenement home in what is now the deli’s overflow lot. That was June 22, 1924. Little else in the area remains the same.

On Monday, the restaurant – where else – is where Carroll celebrated turning 100. He knew weeks ago he planned to turn the tables on the gathered family and closest friends to toast them: “God bless [my kids] and my two grandchildren, and my beloved [partner] Helen of 35 years. I wouldn’t be here without them.”