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Staff photo/JOHN CATE
Mr. Gordon Hill, a Glencare of Mt. Olive resident and Faison native, blows out the candles on his 100th? birthday cake Friday afternoon. While his family is certain Mr. Hill turned at least 100 years old on his birthday Sunday, conflicting records from family members and 1910 and 1920 United States Census indicate that he might actually be 101 or 102 years old.

Faison native celebrates 100th birthday, but he might be 101...or perhaps 102?

By John Cate
staff writer
When Mr. Gordon Hill, a resident of Glencare of Mount Olive, celebrated his birthday on Sunday, only one thing was certain. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Mr. Hill is a centenarian—one of those rare people who live to be 100 years old or more.

But he might just be older than that. Because of the spotty recordkeeping that was done in his native Duplin County during the early 20th century, no one—not even Mr. Hill himself—is quite sure what year he was born.
“It’s hard to get accurate records due to the paperwork in those days,” said Ms. Crystal Quinn, activities director for Glencare. “Our records have him listed as being born in 1908, but his family says that he may have been born in 1907 or even in 1906, so he might be turning 101 or 102.”

Mr. Hill, a resident of Glencare for more than a decade, was honored by staff, family and friends at a party on Friday afternoon. He and his fellow residents were treated to cake, chips and ice cream by staff. Due to the auspicious, and somewhat mysterious, nature of his birthday, Mr. Hill was presented with a birthday cake with a set of special “100?” candles for him to blow out.

Mr. Hill grew up in and lived most of his life in Faison. He came along just a few years too early for a definitive record on his date of birth. Such records were not required by the state of North Carolina until 1913, and many counties didn’t keep them until they were required to. U.S. Census records for the 1910-1930 period exist and are available to the public, but they only confirm the uncertainty. All three show Mr. Hill to be living then, but appear to list his date of birth as 1906 (1910 census), “1907 or 1908” (1920 census) and “about 1910” (1930 census). The family is certain he was born no later than 1908.

Mr. Hill is confined to a wheelchair and has some trouble speaking, but remains full of life. According to staff, he loves to play bingo and drink orange drinks, and his favorite possession is a pocket watch. He has many friends at Glencare who help him on those occasions when he runs into difficulty.

“He’s very thankful for people helping him,” said Ms. Quinn.
Currently, Mr. Hill is Glencare’s only member of the “100 Club,” but that will be changing soon. Another resident will be celebrating her 100th birthday in July, and several other residents are in their 90s.

CBA Class of 78 reunion

The CBA High School Class of 1978 will have a free class reunion on Saturday, October 4 from 11-5 at the school’s cafeteria. The CBA classes of 1977, 1978 and 1979 will have a reunion at Wilson Country Club on Saturday, October 4 from 7-12. If interested in one or both of the reunions, email CBAclass78@bellsouth.net or call 745-5513 as soon as possible.

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