Celina woman reflects on century of good memories

CELINA - Celebrating her 100th birthday on Friday, Ellen Wolfe vividly recalled moments happy and sorrowful as she looked back on what she described as a very good life.   

Yet for all the ups and downs, one thing has remained constant in Wolfe's life - she's always kept herself busy, whether it be finding a new job or setting off on a new adventure. It's that unwavering engagement with life to which she credits her longevity.

"The fishing, everything I did, all these kids and grandkids, I was busy," she told the newspaper. "People that just don't do anything - they don't know what they're missing - and I had so many good friends."

Wolfe was born on Aug. 31, 1918, a few months before the end of World War I.

"I lived in Mercer County all my life. We lived out by Neptune. In fact, we lived in Neptune for several years," she said. "I was born where Howick Road meets (U.S.) 33 … Right there was a log house, and it was my grandparents', and they lived there and then they moved … so then my mom and dad moved there."

Her parents were Archie A. and Elma A. Piper. She had four brothers, Meredith, Ward, Wayne and Lowell "Bud" Piper.

"I'm the last one of the whole brood," she said.

1936 proved to be a pivotal year for Ellen Piper. In the span of a few whirlwind months the 18-year-old was part of the last class to graduate from Neptune High School, married her sweetheart, Garold Wolfe, and became pregnant with her first child.

"My grandpa always said he married the best-looking girl in Neptune," Ellen's grandson Joe Wolfe said.

"Now, you know I was!" she said, pointing to her graduation picture sitting on a nearby table.

She and Garold ran off to get married secretly in Kentucky because their parents thought they weren't old enough to wed. The two kept the secret hidden until Garold's "brat of a brother" Kenny found the marriage license while snooping in the car, she said.

"And he broadcast it. It was everywhere," she said.

When her dad, Archie, heard about the news while shaving, "he about had a heart attack," she said. He was so shaken up, he mistook the white shoe polish in the medicine cabinet for his shaving cream, she added.

Once the shock subsided, the family supported the newlywed couple.

They found a house to rent and filled it with used furniture.

"We got everything used. We didn't have anything new," she said.

Garold was working for his parent's business, Wolfe's Grocery, delivering goods to people in the country and Ellen was a secretary with a corn and hog program housed in the Mercer County Courthouse. At the time, very few people went to college, she said.

"It was a different life, but it was a good life, and I wouldn't trade for anything in the world," she said.

When Garold made his deliveries, some women would barter or exchange chickens and eggs for groceries, Ellen recalled. Children would rush out upon seeing the truck, knowing Garold would have a stick of gum for them.

Ellen Wolfe said she stayed home when the couple's three children - Harold, Janice and Dorothy - were young. She took up rabbit hunting with Harold when he was a young boy.

"I didn't want him to go alone - I wouldn't let him go alone - so I went with him," she said. "And boy, we walked in the ditches and everything else to kick out those rabbits."

Throughout her life, Ellen Wolfe said she had numerous jobs, from babysitting to pressing men's pants in a sewing store to working in a canning factory.

"I've had a good life. My jobs never paid much, but I was respected and I liked it," she said. "I had good people to work for."

Once the children were older, she sought a job at J.C. Penney, which was then located in downtown Celina. She was hired on the spot and ended up working for the company for 26 years before retiring.

She said at the time J.C. Penney was known for its materials, which women would buy to make dresses as well as undergarments.

She would write down what a customer had ordered and place that into a little cup that came down to the floor along with the money for the order. The cups would then be pulled up to the second floor.

"The change would come back to us, and we would give it to the customers," she said.

Over the years She worked her way up to become a merchandise records supervisor.

Garold and Ellen Wolfe had a boat and mobile home at Catawba Island on Lake Erie, where they would fish for perch and walleye on the weekends.

Garold had, over his wife's protests, bought her a new fishing pole to replace the antique one she had used for years. But on casting out the line for the first time, the new pole slipped from her hands and sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie.

To this day, she insists it was an accident.

Her grandson, Joe, spoke fondly of those weekend fishing trips he took with his grandparents.

"I got such good grandkids. I just love every one of them and they're so good to me," she said.