The Northampton Township James E. Kinney Senior Center celebrated the 100th birthday of its oldest member on Tuesday, May 21. Eleanor Satterfield, of Churchville, has been a member of the senior center for more than 25 years. She was born in Philadelphia on May 21, 1919 and is the oldest surviving daughter of the late Gilford and Virgie Tidwell, of Ardsley in Montgomery County.
As a young girl, Satterfield enjoyed singing in her church choir and visiting her grandmother and “Aunt Abby” on her mother’s family farm in Delaware, where she picked corn and tomatoes and tried to milk the cows. She attended and graduated from Abington High School.
Following graduation, she worked in Philadelphia for a short time, where she met and married her husband Ray. They had three sons: Raymond, Gilford and Dale. After living in Philadelphia for a number of years, they moved to Churchville in 1961.
Satterfield was an active member of the community. She enjoyed singing in the choir at the former Dotterer Baptist Church and helped out occasionally at Churchville Elementary School. But most of all, she loves being a mom to her three boys. Currently, she has 17 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and five great-great grandchildren.
Satterfield joined the senior center in 1993 and has been an active member ever since, playing bingo with the “girls” at the senior center. She is looking forward to celebrating her 101st birthday next year.
