TO CONGRATULATE HELEN DOUGLAS ABERNATHY WHITE OF MARION COUNTY, UPON THE OCCASION OF HER ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH BIRTHDAY, AND TO WISH HER A JOYOUS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AND MANY YEARS OF CONTINUED HEALTH AND HAPPINESS.

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are delighted to learn that Helen Douglas Abernathy White of Marion County celebrated her one hundred eighth birthday on September 21, 2014, surrounded by more than a hundred of her dear friends and family members; and

Whereas, born on September 21, 1906, in the early years of the twentieth century, she has witnessed many remarkable social changes, technological advancements, and international developments that have spanned the globe from that time into the second decade of the twenty-first century; and

Whereas, one of eight children, Helen Abernathy was reared in the small community of Fort Lawn where her father was a mercantile businessman. Besides farming and selling horses, mules, and buggies, he also read and practiced law and was active in politics, serving as mayor for twenty years; and

Whereas, actively involved in the church and meeting needs in the community, her family provided a soup kitchen for the community when the flu epidemic of 1918 struck their neighbors; and

Whereas, in her teens, Miss Helen, as she is fondly called, enjoyed tennis and dancing, and after completing a degree in home economics at Flora McDonald College in Red Springs, North Carolina, she taught in rural Centenary; and

Whereas, she became a home demonstration agent for Florence and Saluda counties, during which time she met her beloved Harry Alton White, and they were married on Christmas Day in 1933; and

Whereas, after the birth of their daughter Jerri Sandra, Mrs. White was employed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to pioneer school lunch programs, nursery projects in industry, gardening and canning projects, and in-home services for the indigent, supervising these WPA operations in nine counties in western South Carolina; and

Whereas, she became a homemaker and church and school volunteer after the birth of their son Harry A. White, Jr., and returned to teaching home economics in the 1960s and 1970s at the Governor Morehead School for the blind. She had to rethink her lessons and tailor tasks for blind and partially seeing students; and

Whereas, after she and her dear husband retired and before his death in 1984, they traveled through the Caribbean, and since then she has traveled within the United States and to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, England, and Scotland, her ancestral home; and

Whereas, Miss Helen continues to serve as president of the Women of the Church, and she is a member of the Friends of the Marion County Museum and the South Carolina Genealogical Society; and

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to honor this daughter of South Carolina at the celebration of her one hundred eighth birthday and join with her family and friends in congratulating her on reaching this extraordinary milestone. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, congratulate Helen Douglas Abernathy White of Marion County, upon the occasion of her one hundred eighth birthday, and wish her a joyous birthday celebration and many years of continued health and happiness.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to Helen Douglas Abernathy.