Hocker and Gray celebrate Helen Quillen's 103rd birthday

Sen. Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, and Rep. Ron Gray, R-Selbyville, recently presented a joint Senate/House of Representatives Tribute commemorating her 103rd birthday to Helen Quillen at her Frankford home.

Quillen grew up in Laurel on her family’s farm on Chipman’s Pond that was named after her great-grandfather. She was born Nov. 12, 1913, the year when Woodrow Wilson was president and Henry Ford set up the first assembly line. She said she remembers, as a child, running out to the road to watch the first car in the area, a Ford, drive by.

“We thought it was the funniest thing,” she said. In her life she owned a Model T and a Model A Ford. She graduated from Laurel High School in 1931, and worked for 39 years running a chicken vaccination crew for what became Townsend Foods. She raised two daughters and has two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Hocker said he enjoyed spending time with Quillen, who he’s known all his life. In fact, she used to come to his grandfather’s farm to pick strawberries years ago.

She is a testament to us all, said Hocker. Quillen still lives on her own, has a strong mind and good spirit. Quillen said she knew Hocker’s parents as well as Gray’s parents, grandparents and great-grandfather. “They are good people,” she said.