Helen Bullock turns 103
(October 28, 2020 Issue)
By Loretta Cozart
Helen Williams Bullock celebrated her 103rd birthday on Sunday, October 25. Bullock has experienced a lot in her lifetime. The year after Bullock was born, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 swept across America and eventually the world. This year, Bullock battled and survived the Coronavirus.
“I got through it,” Bullock said. “I was lucky, because I had no symptoms. To live to my age requires being healthy.”
Any other year, Bullock would have celebrated her birthday at the First Baptist Church where she is a member. This year, the pandemic and Governor Cooper’s executive orders don’t allow for large gatherings. So, White Oak Manor, her friends and family arranged for a special drive-thru celebration so well-wishers could help her celebrate the big day.
“My birthday was so nice,” she said. “I spent the day answering phone calls and greeting people at the window,” a popular way for friends to visit loved ones in assisted living centers due to the Coronavirus. “I got calls from cousins, one even visited me early. Other friends from Florida had an accident on the way. They are okay, but their car was totaled. Friends from First Baptist Church called with well-wishes. It was wonderful.”
Bullock's parents, Wray and Emma Mae Ware Williams, owned a farm where Watterson Street and Waco Road intersect. In 1941, she remembers that Watterson Street was opened from Davidson School to Waco Road. “Back then, that road just separated pastures and fields,” she said. “My parents decided to move out to the country. They were able to get a newer house with air conditioning. It was much more comfortable, and they were lucky to have that in their older years.”
Bullock remembers walking to West School and then to Central High School. She attended West School from first-grade through seventh-grade. "We walked to school and joined with other families along the way. Walking to West School and Central wasn't too bad. When we walked all the way to East School, that was hard," she said. “In those days, we didn’t have buses, so everyone walked to school. If it rained, daddy would drive me.”
Bullocks parents had a farm, so she didn’t go into town often. “If mama needed something, she would send me to Mr. Gantt’s store, at the corner of Waco Road and Gantt Street. It was the only store I knew about back then and it was across the road from the Pauline Mill Mama would send me there for necessities; things we couldn’t get from the farm like salt and pepper, necessary things.”
During her junior year of high school, Central School burned, and students attended two different schools while the facility was being rebuilt. They attended East School in the morning and then went to Central late in the day. On some days, that schedule was flip-flopped. "The auditorium and classrooms below did not burn. Classes in those sections included primary grades and home economics," said Bullock. "We went to school in the evening for Home Economics, and I played basketball on the auditorium stage."
Her high school class photo was taken in front of Central School. "I guess they finished rebuilding the school by graduation in 1934. It was tough dividing our class time across two different schools, but we got through it. We had 37 or 38 students in our senior class."
"I do remember singing in the Glee Club for President Hoover when he came to the battleground in 1930," said Bullock. "Of course, we didn't get to stay to enjoy the celebration. As soon as we finished singing, they took us right back to school."
After high school, Bullock attended school at WC-UNC, later called the Woman's College of Greensboro. Today it is known as UNC-G. She earned a double major in Home Economics and Science. After college, she taught both classes in Seaboard, NC for four years. While there, she met her future husband, Welford Bullock. When World War II began, life changed dramatically.
Bullock's brother was drafted. Her boyfriend, Welford Bullock, volunteered for the Navy and was stationed in the Pacific. Helen felt the call to serve and joined the Army but was turned down. A short time later, she applied again and was accepted in the Women's Army Corps. Helen said, "I joined for my well-being. It was an exciting time in my life."
She worked in Intelligence for the Army, "The most exciting time I remember was an invasion that occurred during our shift. We went to work at 7 am before the invasion occurred. We worked through the night and weren't allowed to change shifts; they brought us food. It was exciting to know what was going on and to be a part of that."
Helen and Welford Bullock married in 1944 before her tour of duty ended in May of 1945. "That was a difficult time of me," she said. After the war ended, the couple returned to Seaboard, NC, where she worked as a teacher of Science and Home Economics until she her retirement.
"We moved back to Kings Mountain to take care of my sister, Maud Williams McGill," said Bullock. "She wasn't well and needed us." After McGill passed away, the Bullocks remained in Kings Mountain.
Welford Bullock passed away in 2003 and Bullock now lives in White Oak Manor. "Christy Speed takes care of my clothes and business affairs. She does a wonderful job for me; she is very professional."
Speed feels a similar admiration for Bullock. “She is an amazing person. She always does for others and continues to stay active,” she said. “Before COVID, Helen ate lunch in the cafeteria and stayed active. I enjoy working with her because she has led an amazing life.”
Helen Bullock has lived an interesting life and survived two pandemics. She has seen tremendous change in the city in her 103 years. But the pandemic is different, because it causes isolation, which is difficult for many people, including senior citizens. “The days are hard to fill now. We don’t have activities here due to the virus, so I welcome creative uses of my time to fill the day. We’ll get through this too, one day at a time.”
By Loretta Cozart
Helen Williams Bullock celebrated her 103rd birthday on Sunday, October 25. Bullock has experienced a lot in her lifetime. The year after Bullock was born, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 swept across America and eventually the world. This year, Bullock battled and survived the Coronavirus.
“I got through it,” Bullock said. “I was lucky, because I had no symptoms. To live to my age requires being healthy.”
Any other year, Bullock would have celebrated her birthday at the First Baptist Church where she is a member. This year, the pandemic and Governor Cooper’s executive orders don’t allow for large gatherings. So, White Oak Manor, her friends and family arranged for a special drive-thru celebration so well-wishers could help her celebrate the big day.
“My birthday was so nice,” she said. “I spent the day answering phone calls and greeting people at the window,” a popular way for friends to visit loved ones in assisted living centers due to the Coronavirus. “I got calls from cousins, one even visited me early. Other friends from Florida had an accident on the way. They are okay, but their car was totaled. Friends from First Baptist Church called with well-wishes. It was wonderful.”
Bullock's parents, Wray and Emma Mae Ware Williams, owned a farm where Watterson Street and Waco Road intersect. In 1941, she remembers that Watterson Street was opened from Davidson School to Waco Road. “Back then, that road just separated pastures and fields,” she said. “My parents decided to move out to the country. They were able to get a newer house with air conditioning. It was much more comfortable, and they were lucky to have that in their older years.”
Bullock remembers walking to West School and then to Central High School. She attended West School from first-grade through seventh-grade. "We walked to school and joined with other families along the way. Walking to West School and Central wasn't too bad. When we walked all the way to East School, that was hard," she said. “In those days, we didn’t have buses, so everyone walked to school. If it rained, daddy would drive me.”
Bullocks parents had a farm, so she didn’t go into town often. “If mama needed something, she would send me to Mr. Gantt’s store, at the corner of Waco Road and Gantt Street. It was the only store I knew about back then and it was across the road from the Pauline Mill Mama would send me there for necessities; things we couldn’t get from the farm like salt and pepper, necessary things.”
During her junior year of high school, Central School burned, and students attended two different schools while the facility was being rebuilt. They attended East School in the morning and then went to Central late in the day. On some days, that schedule was flip-flopped. "The auditorium and classrooms below did not burn. Classes in those sections included primary grades and home economics," said Bullock. "We went to school in the evening for Home Economics, and I played basketball on the auditorium stage."
Her high school class photo was taken in front of Central School. "I guess they finished rebuilding the school by graduation in 1934. It was tough dividing our class time across two different schools, but we got through it. We had 37 or 38 students in our senior class."
"I do remember singing in the Glee Club for President Hoover when he came to the battleground in 1930," said Bullock. "Of course, we didn't get to stay to enjoy the celebration. As soon as we finished singing, they took us right back to school."
After high school, Bullock attended school at WC-UNC, later called the Woman's College of Greensboro. Today it is known as UNC-G. She earned a double major in Home Economics and Science. After college, she taught both classes in Seaboard, NC for four years. While there, she met her future husband, Welford Bullock. When World War II began, life changed dramatically.
Bullock's brother was drafted. Her boyfriend, Welford Bullock, volunteered for the Navy and was stationed in the Pacific. Helen felt the call to serve and joined the Army but was turned down. A short time later, she applied again and was accepted in the Women's Army Corps. Helen said, "I joined for my well-being. It was an exciting time in my life."
She worked in Intelligence for the Army, "The most exciting time I remember was an invasion that occurred during our shift. We went to work at 7 am before the invasion occurred. We worked through the night and weren't allowed to change shifts; they brought us food. It was exciting to know what was going on and to be a part of that."
Helen and Welford Bullock married in 1944 before her tour of duty ended in May of 1945. "That was a difficult time of me," she said. After the war ended, the couple returned to Seaboard, NC, where she worked as a teacher of Science and Home Economics until she her retirement.
"We moved back to Kings Mountain to take care of my sister, Maud Williams McGill," said Bullock. "She wasn't well and needed us." After McGill passed away, the Bullocks remained in Kings Mountain.
Welford Bullock passed away in 2003 and Bullock now lives in White Oak Manor. "Christy Speed takes care of my clothes and business affairs. She does a wonderful job for me; she is very professional."
Speed feels a similar admiration for Bullock. “She is an amazing person. She always does for others and continues to stay active,” she said. “Before COVID, Helen ate lunch in the cafeteria and stayed active. I enjoy working with her because she has led an amazing life.”
Helen Bullock has lived an interesting life and survived two pandemics. She has seen tremendous change in the city in her 103 years. But the pandemic is different, because it causes isolation, which is difficult for many people, including senior citizens. “The days are hard to fill now. We don’t have activities here due to the virus, so I welcome creative uses of my time to fill the day. We’ll get through this too, one day at a time.”
