Long before people could ask their smartphones for directions, Patty Reimer sought guidance from a higher source — God.

Reimer was renting space for her hair salon, Cleopatra’s, in New Kensington. She was on her way to buy a building for it in Lower Burrell in October 1984 when she asked God for guidance, and didn’t go through with it.

Her first husband, Joe Giordano, died later that same month at 54 from a heart attack. Buying the building for her business would have saddled her with that mortgage on top of her home’s.

“I would have lost everything I had,” Reimer said. “I’m glad I had my business. I was able to survive.”

And survive she did. Reimer, 83, has had her salon in downtown New Kensington for 60 years. She was born in the city, never left, and has always paid rent for her shop at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Seventh Street.

Reimer got started in 1961 in a space facing Seventh Street, when her mother helped her buy what had been Beverly J’s Beauty Shop. She got so busy by 1966 that she needed a bigger space and moved to a storefront in the same building facing Fifth Avenue, where she’s been ever since.

“I never want to leave this town. I just love being here,” she said. “New Kensington is part of my life.”

Her latest landlord, Sean Watson, bought the building in November 2018. He has his own business, Sustain-ABLE Matter(s), in the building and is opening a restaurant, SoCal Mexicali Grill, on the corner.

Reimer was the only tenant when Watson bought it. When he walked in to introduce himself, a scared Reimer asked Watson if he was going to kick her out or raise the rent.

Watson brought her in for a hug.

“She’s one of the only people I didn’t shake hands with. When we first met, we hugged. I loved that about her,” he said. “Every time I see her, it’s a big hug. The rent never went up $1 on her, and it never will as long as she’s there.”

Reimer said she’ll keep doing cuts, colors, perms and highlights as long as her health is good, which, aside from some sciatica, she says it is.

“If I retired I’d probably go crazy. I don’t want to retire and watch TV all day long. I just want to survive here until I lose all my customers,” she said. “You get up, you get dressed, come down and see people. It keeps you young.”

Reimer said most of her customers range in age from 70 to 100, although there are a few youngsters in their 60s. There’s been sorrow when they’ve moved or passed away.

“They’re my family,” she said. “All the years we’ve been together, when they die it’s like losing a member of your family.”

Julie Colpo of Washington Township has been coming to Reimer every week for many years. “Too many,” she said.

“She does miracles,” Colpo said during a recent visit. “She’s not only my beautician, she’s my friend. A very good one, too. It’s almost like family coming here.”

Reimer’s parents, John and Eva Phillips, came to the United States from Greece, the island of Karpathos in the Aegean Sea. Her father shortened their family’s name from Philipides. They had four daughters and a son; Reimer is the second oldest of the five, who are all still living.

Reimer went to beauty school at night while a student at Ken High, graduating from both in 1956.

“I always liked doing hair,” she said. “My mother pushed me to get a job right away. I had to help the family.”

She worked for someone else for only five years before opening Cleopatra’s, which she named in part because of the popular 1963 movie starring Elizabeth Taylor and because it’s her name in Greek — some call her Cleo.

Reimer was married to her first husband, Giordano, who worked for PPG in East Deer, for 11 years.

She remarried seven years later to Jack Reimer, and they’ve been married for 29 years.

Reimer remembers when New Kensington was bustling, with sidewalks so full, people had to step off into the street to pass someone. She had competition from other beauty shops all over the city.

It was just as busy inside Cleopatra’s.

“We were lucky to get an appointment,” Colpo said. “Those were the days.”

The hardest times were brought by the covid pandemic, making 2020 her worst year.

When she was forced to close by the state, customers begged her to come to their homes, but she was afraid. “I could’ve lost my license,” she said.

Even when she could reopen, Reimer said she still lost customers, such as those living in nursing homes who were not allowed to leave.

“That destroyed a lot of businesses, especially small businesses,” she said.

Lately, she’s seen the efforts to bring New Kensington back. Fridays on Fifth, a monthly food truck event started this year, has packed the streets once again; vacant storefronts are being rehabilitated and becoming home to a variety of new businesses.

“They’re bringing people back to the town. It’s nice to see all the new places open up,” she said. “Maybe it will help me. Maybe I’ll get some customers.”

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