Ila Henson, who lives in Sylva's Fairview community, celebrated her 99th birthday Feb. 26. She was surrounded by cards and flowers from well-wishers.
Ila Henson was born in Bluefield, W.Va., on Feb. 26, 1904, to Rufus Oscar Bumgarner and Minnie Hester Nunn Bumgarner. "When I was around 2 years old, my parents decided to come to Sylva, where my dad's family lived," said the 99-year-old Henson. "We lived with my great-grandfather, who lived in an old log house close to where I live now on Fairview Road. I was 4 1/2 when my sister, Love Lonis, was born." Her family was happy, Henson said, even though "we didn't have much money, but we did have plenty to eat and lots of love." Henson said she especially loved her great-grandpa George, who had an old gray horse named Joe. "He used to put me on a ladder going to the loft of the old barn, and I would watch him curry Old Joe," she said. "Then he would put me on Old Joe's back, holding me by my foot to lead him to the branch to water. Oh, how I did enjoy that." After their evening meal, "Granddad," as she called him, would "take me on his lap in his favorite rocking chair and rock and sing until we both fell asleep." When she was about 8 or 9 years old, her family moved to Canton, and later to Asheville. "We lived in Asheville for two years and then moved to Webster and later to Dillsboro. By that time, my mom and I decided we had moved enough, and we built a house on property that my dad inherited, where I lived until I married," she said. A 1922 graduate of Sylva High School, she received a teaching certificate and taught school for five years. Then she went to Akron, Ohio, and worked at B.F. Goodrich Rubber Co. for two years. While there, she married Grady Henson, who was also from Jackson County. They moved back to Sylva and built the house where she now lives alone. Her daughter, Jeanne, who is married to Clyde Bumgarner, lives next door. Henson taught piano in Jackson County schools for 18 years and gave piano lessons at her Fairview home. For many years she was the pianist for Love's Chapel United Methodist Church. Editor's Note: Henson's story is told here in recognition of May being named Older American's Month.
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