Photos courtesy Susan Jaramillo
By Jean A. Flanagan
Special to Examiner
A life well-lived consists of good friends, maintaining good relationships with family, keeping mind and body active and a steadfast faith in God. This according to Helen Chambers, who will celebrate her 100th birthday on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. “I have been bless to have the best friends and the best family in the whole world,” she said.
Born in Allegheny Hospital in Cumberland, Md., Chambers grew up in Piedmont, W. Va.
“Piedmont, Westernport and Cumberland were called the Tri-Towns,” she said. “What one town didn’t have, one of the others did.”
Chambers was one of six children born to Edward and Bernadette Pendergast. “There were three boys and three girls and I was right in the middle,” she said.
Chambers attended St. Peter’s School in Westernport, grades 1 through 12. The Catholic School now serves grades K-6.
“I have fond memories of my Catholic education,” Chambers said. “I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”
Although she grew up during the Depression, Chambers doesn’t remember doing without.
“My father worked for the B&O Railroad, so he always had a job,” she said. “I remember the WPA workers fixing the road in front of our house. One of my classmate’s father was among them. I remember that being one of Roosevelt’s programs. I remember him running for president the first time. For a long time, Roosevelt was the only president I knew.”
When World War II broke out, Chambers’ three brothers served.
“Mother had a flag in the window to show she had sons in the war,” she said. “We were always concerned. The whole town was sad when there was a death.”
World War II families would display a service flag in their window. The flag was white with a red border. Stars on the white background indicated the number of family members serving. A blue star represented a living serviceman. A gold star represented a serviceman who died in service.
“Thankfully, all three of my brothers came home,” Chambers said.
After high school, Chambers studied nursing, from 1942 – 1945, at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore.
“They offered a three-year Registered Nurse program,” she said. “I also took a post-graduate course at the Sydenham Hospital for Communicable Diseases, studying polio and dypyheria in children. There were children there in iron lungs. It was awful.”
During nursing school, Chambers became friends with a group of ladies who decided to stay together after graduating. She went with the other nurses to work in Oak Ridge Tenn. “Oak Ridge was a new town,” she said.
Actually, Oak Ridge was the secret headquarters of the Manhattan Project, the effort by the US government to produce the first atomic bomb.
In 1947, Chambers came back to Piedmont and worked at Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser. She was instrumental in establishing the first dispensary/clinic for students at Potomac State College (now University).
It was about that time, Chambers met her husband, George Kenneth “Kenny” Chambers of Moorefield. He was a friend of her bother, Joe and worked at the funeral home in Piedmont. They were married on July 26, 1952.
Kenny helped to establish the Rotruck-Chambers Funeral Home in Piedmont and in 1970 Kenny and Helen moved to Moorefield. Kenny established the Chambers Funeral Home on Winchester Avenue.
Helen went to work at Grant Memorial Hospital as a general duty nurse until the late 1970s, when she left to help at the funeral home. In 1984, the Chambers retired and sold the business to John Elmore.
“We would spend months at a time in Florida,” Chambers said about retirement. “We played golf and bridge.”
Kenny passed away in 2002, only a few moths short of their 50th wedding anniversary. He was 80 years old.
Chambers continued to play golf and she played bridge until Covid, in 2020.
She is a member of the Epiphany Catholic Church and is on the Finance, Worship and Music committees. “My faith is very important,” she said.
When asked the secret to her long life, Chambers laughed, “Well, I never smoked.”
She also said she never had a lot of stress. “Some people have a lot of stress. I guess I had the normal amount. But I was active, played golf and kept my mind sharp.”
According to Chambers’ niece, Susan Jaramillo, Chambers goes to her “office” every morning.
Jaramillo lives in Columbia, South American and has been staying with Chambers.
Chambers plays Suduko, on paper, religiously, has an iPhone, and iPad and a Smart TV.
“I think that’s the biggest change I’ve seen in my lifetime is the electronics,” she said. “Shopping today, even grocery shopping, is very different than when I was growing up.”
Chambers doesn’t get out much anymore. While her mind is sharp, her mobility, not so much. So her nieces, many of whom are retired, take turns staying with their “Aunt Helen.” Her friends come to see her several times a week and she stays in touch with family and friends via email and social media.
There doesn’t seem to be a big celebration planned for her 100th birthday, and Chambers doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal. “I’ve just been very blessed,” she said.
