Former teacher marks her 107th birthday
Helen Cypher knows a thing or two about longevity. After all, she didn't have a teaching career that started in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration in 1933 and lasted until the Gerald Ford presidency in 1977 without showing her durability.
She's counted as the oldest member of her church, St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 315 Stoney Hollow Road, Cabot. And last week when she turned 107 on Thursday, she became the oldest client in Concordia Lutheran Ministries personal care unit, and she proved her persistence once again.
“I was born Sept. 5, 1912, that was a long time ago,” said Cypher. “I was born at home (in Winfield Township). My parents were Flavius and Salina Denny.”
“My dad was sort of a farmer. He pumped gas in Winfield and ran a store in Leasureville.”
The youngest of five children, Cypher said she graduated from Slippery Rock Normal School in 1933 with a degree in public education.
Her first job was teaching grades one through eight in a one-room school house.
This is an excerpt from a story that appears in Sunday's Butler Eagle.
