100 and counting

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Memories of the Great Depression still haunt Billie Waddell Huddle. The images of people begging for food and money are still fresh in her mind after all these years.
“When we first married, it was in the heart of the Depression,” recalled Huddle, who turned 100 on Wednesday. “We were very lucky. My husband didn’t make a lot but we were able to live on it. We had an apartment in an old house in Richmond and I’d see people on the street begging. I hoped I’d never see another Depression and here we are today.”
Born Nov. 25, 1909, in Wytheville, Huddle was the daughter of the late D.C. and Mattie Sutherland Waddell. She had two sisters, Thelma W. Kelly and Claudine W. Pope, and a brother, Randolph Waddell.
“My daddy was a well driller,” Huddle noted. “We didn’t have a lot but nobody did then.”
There was enough money to send her to Virginia Intermont College in Bristol after she graduated from Wytheville High School. Huddle lived with her sister in Bristol while in college.
After completing a standard course, she returned home to Wytheville. Huddle could not find a job but she did find a husband.
“I met him at a little soda shop here in town,” Huddle said of her husband, the late Stephen D. Huddle of Ivanhoe. “He worked for the Seaboard Airline Railroad and was away from home a lot. We courted for years and years.”
Marrying in Bristol, the Huddles rode the train to Richmond where Mr. Huddle was working at the time. They lived in an apartment in an old house.
“We lived all over the place,” Mrs. Huddle pointed out. “We ended up in Indian Town, Fla. Steve did construction for the railroad. Then we moved to Tallahassee.”
It was there Mrs. Huddle enrolled at Florida State University and obtained a degree in elementary education. She became a fourth-grade teacher at a public school in Palm Beach County.
“They were so short of teachers in Florida,” Huddle pointed out. “I hadn’t planned to teach. The children were wonderful. The parents were too and they were so good to me. I taught for 20-some years in the same classroom.”
The Huddles had twin sons, Billy and Stephen. Their son Stephen is deceased.
“We named the boys after ourselves,” Mrs. Huddle said. “Billy lives in Florida and is the supervisor of an engineering crew.”
She has six grandchildren, several great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
“They’ve asked me what I wanted for my birthday,” Huddle said. “When you get as old as I am it doesn’t matter.”
Relatives and friends hosted a birthday party for her Wednesday afternoon. They also sent her loads of flowers, balloons and cards.
Huddle was particularly pleased with a note and autographed photo from author Danielle Steele. Her granddaughter had written to Steel and told her about Huddle’s love of her books.
Gov. Tim Kaine also sent a congratulatory note to Huddle for her birthday,
Widowed on Easter Sunday in 1969, Mrs. Huddle moved back to Wytheville. She lived with her sister until she found a house of her own.
“There weren’t any houses for sale here then,” Huddle stated. “I finally found a little house I loved.”
For health reasons, she moved to a private room at Carrington Place at Wytheville four years ago. Huddle enjoys reading and crocheted until recently.
A longtime member of Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, Huddle logged 6,000 volunteer hours at Wythe County Community Hospital as a member of the auxiliary. She also volunteered for the American Red Cross Bloodmobile.
Among the many changes she has seen in her life is the way people dress. Huddle remembers the era when hats and gloves for women were the style.
“I always dressed up to go to church and to go to school,” said Huddle, dressed in an elegant navy dress with matching accessories of earrings, necklace and bracelet. “We had a dress code when I taught. I had an awful lot of hats. I loved hats.”
Asked if there are any regrets in her life, Huddle answered, “I’ve had some knocks but we all have. I can’t think of anything I’d change. I’ve been very well satisfied. I’ve never been one to complain.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).