Aug 25, 2017 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Hilma Moore admits that she isn’t as active as she once was.

“It doesn’t take much to make me tired,” she lamented.

But that’s certainly understandable considering the Waynesburg resident celebrated her 102nd birthday on Aug. 6.

And the secret to her longevity isn’t easy to explain. “I don’t know. Blame it on hard work,” she said.

One thing is for sure, though: She does not look her age. Whenever she is introduced to someone and she tells them her age, “they don’t believe it,” she said.

Hilma Duett Evans was born Aug. 6, 1915, in Jackson Township, Greene County, to Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Hunnell Evans. She was one of six children, and she is the last surviving sibling.

Hilma did not have an easy childhood. Her mother died of diphtheria when Hilma was just 5 years old. Hilma and her younger sister, Mona, who was 4, were sent away to be raised by separate families. Two of her four brothers who weren’t married stayed at home, where they were raised by their father.

However, Hilma and Mona remained in contact with each other and their father, and to this day, one of Mona’s daughters, Mary Dale Price of Blacksville, W.Va., is one of Hilma’s closest – and most reliable – companions.

“I bug her all the time,” Mary Dale laughed, noting that she visits her aunt twice a week at Assisted Living At Evergreen in Waynesburg, where Hilma moved on doctor’s orders in December after suffering a heart attack.

Until then, though, Hilma lived independently at 190 Washington St., Waynesburg, for 30-plus years, most of which were spent in a second-floor apartment. When the first-floor tenant died a few years ago, Hilma finally moved, reducing the number of steps she had to navigate on a daily basis, much to her loved ones’ relief.

“She really is an amazing woman,” Mary Dale said.

Hilma and her husband, Clarence E. Moore, were wed on Dec. 23, 1943, and the couple spent most of their married life working hard and traveling, often going to Columbus, Ohio, to visit a niece. The farthest they traveled was to Oklahoma.

The couple lived in Washington County, where Clarence worked at the transformer plant in Canonsburg for 25 years and Hilma worked at the RCA in Canonsburg, where she built radios, and later worked as a waitress.

When the Moores returned to Greene County on Dec. 26, 1974, Hilma became a waitress at East End Restaurant in Waynesburg.

The couple were married for 43 years when Clarence died in 1986 at age 75. The couple never had children of their own, but they were extremely close with their many nieces and nephews, and later great-nieces and great-nephews.

In fact, Hilma recently was able to reminisce with a 91-year-old nephew, Victor Evans of Rices Landing, at a well-attended family reunion.

“She’s been losing nieces and nephews, but she’s still going strong,” Mary Dale said.

Hilma never drove, but she had plenty of friends and relatives who were only too happy to help her out after her husband died. Mary Dale, for instance, took her grocery shopping, to medical procedures and doctor’s appointments. Afterward, they would go to Bob Evans, where Hilma’s meal of choice was biscuits and gravy.

One friend, 80-plus-year-old Peggy Bailey of Waynesburg, also often helped Hilma, and to this day, Peggy visits Hilma every Wednesday and Saturday, always arriving with a smile and something in hand. The two met at Jefferson Church of the Nazarene and became fast friends.

“Aunt Hilma has always been a strong Christian,” Mary Dale said.

Hilma used to be an avid reader, too, perusing the Observer-Reporter every day and immersing herself in books and other periodicals. She doesn’t do that so much anymore, but she does exercise a few mornings each week, and she enjoys watchinig and listening to the entertainment at Evergreen. She is usually in bed by 6:30 p.m., and is up and ready for breakfast at 8 a.m.

“I’m still going. I’m doing the best I can,” Hilma said.