A life of grace

Helen Kull

This month’s column was going to continue the series along the Delaware. But when I learned of the recent passing of Grace Starrett, I decided to devote this column to the life of this extraordinary life-long Ewing resident.

I first knew of Mrs. Starrett as a teacher in the Ewing School system, but I got to know her a bit more through our common involvement in the Ewing Historical Society. I then had the fortune of interviewing her for some “Then and Now” columns back in 2016, and immediately recognized the depth of her love for Ewing, and the simple yet very involved life she happily enjoyed here.

Grace Clee Starrett was born in 1931, the granddaughter of Gustave DeGrave, one of the quarry owners along the canal in the late 19th/early 20th century. They lived in the “big farmhouse” now known as “Hill’s Hollow,” on Wilburtha Road. Of living in Wilburtha, she told me:

“There were a lot of children my age in Wilburtha, and we had a wonderful time growing up together, and playing together. We each had our own special tree to climb. There were cornfields and meadows below, and we’d play Hide and Seek and all sorts of games. In the winter, the pond would freeze solid, and we would ice skate there, and the big boys would play ice hockey. We girls had our favorite dolls, and we’d play dolls together.

“We kids loved to wave to the conductors on the Belvidere and Delaware trains, both passenger and freight, that went by on the tracks along the canal (now the D&R towpath). Often in the early 30s during the Depression, men hitching a ride on the trains would come to Grandfather’s door, asking for a place in the barn to spend the night. I also recall making sandwiches for these genuinely nice men, for which they were always so grateful.

“We didn’t have running water in the house—and to this day, I don’t waste water, or anything else for that matter! When you have to hand pump all your water, you learn to use it sparingly. Out in the back we had a privy, and Mother would take care of the chamber pots in the house. I didn’t know any differently, and didn’t feel “needy” in any way.

“All of us children had chores around the house and farm. We sold tomatoes, fresh corn and vegetables from a farm stand out front on River Road, at Nicholson’s Store in Trenton, and sometimes at a farmer’s market near where Thunder Park is today. We also had time to play—Chinese checkers, cards, puppets, rhyming games. We read books, did creative writing, and the family made music around the piano and pump organ.

“There was only one telephone in Wilburtha. It was in our house, because of Grandfather’s quarry business, which was extra income over and above that from Grandfather’s 40-plus acre farm. Any messages for Grandfather had to be run up the hill, or to wherever Grandfather was.

“We were very involved in 4-H, in the “Wilburtha Willing Workers” group. We learned sewing and canning, and I did a lot of sewing. I even made my wedding dress and my daughter’s. And my Grandmother taught me my love of plants, which gives me joy to this day.”

It will come as no surprise then that Grace was active in the West Trenton Garden Club, the Garden Club of NJ, and the Township Historic Preservation Society.

The skills learned in 4-H lasted a lifetime, and gave her pleasure in sewing, needlework and craft projects. A graduate of NJ State Teachers College (now TCNJ), she taught school children for over 30 years in Ewing, and was named “Teacher of the Year” in 1990. She served in an internship with Colonial Williamsburg, and volunteered with the Children’s Home Society of NJ.

Grace was simply a delight to spend time with and learn from. She was kind, knowledgeable, generous, creative and industrious. She was, in fact, the epitome of “grace”: full of elegance, honor, goodwill—and a blessing to all. A life supremely well lived! Thank you, Grace.

NOTE: March 12 at 2 pm, local author Larry Kidder will speak at the Temple House on the Carlisle Indian School students who lived with Ewing families between 1885 and 1915. See information elsewhere in this paper for details.