DeGroat celebrates 100th birthday

Eileen DeGroat turned 100 on July 28, celebrating with family and friends at Bentley Assisted Living at Branchville.

“I’m just so happy that so many people stopped by and so blessed and grateful for my family and friends,” she said.

Though she now lives in Branchville, DeGroat is a Sussex gal to the core.

She was born in Sussex Borough, attended a one-room schoolhouse in Quarryville, then went on to Sussex High School.

She was married at the Sussex Methodist Church and raised her children on three different farms in the area.

Before getting married, she recalled making washers at DuPont’s (now Picatinny Arsenal) that went on detonators during World War II.

“We had five people on the assembly line, and I was second to last,” she said. “It was a very different time during the war.”

She also remembered the Great Depression and her father having $3.50 in his pocket. “If I remember correctly, he spent it on fireworks to make us happy.”

DeGroat and her husband, Willard “Bill,” were married when she was 23 in a simple service in 1944. They had three children: Roger, Dixie and Willard, who always has been called Hap.

DeGroat’s husband, whose middle name was Harding after the president, died March 16, 2009, at their home, the Plumsock Farm in Wantage, surrounded by his family.

Before his death, he and his wife had a huge anniversary party thrown by their family.

“They didn’t have a big wedding, and it was basically the two of them, the minister and those who stood up for them,” said DeGroat’s daughter, Dixie DeYoung. “We wanted to give them the wedding celebration they never had with the anniversary party.”

DeGroat remembers the Branchville Flood of 1955, something few may know about these days.

“My husband came back from delivering milk from our dairy and told us that the dam had given out and the streets were all flooded and there was debris everywhere,” she said.

Fortunately, their farm, which was in Branchville, was on a hill so it was not affected. “We sure felt badly for those who were though and did what we could to help out.”

DeGroat continues to enjoy her golden years, her children, 11 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She enjoys socializing and doing word searches and loves to sip a can of birch beer.

The secret to her longevity? “To live long, you have to work hard and eat food out of your garden.”

Her daughter recalls doing a lot of canning when she was growing up. “We even canned venison and corn,” she said. “We canned all we could to have fresh food throughout the winter.”