Millersburg woman turns 100
Oct. 11—NEW PARIS — Dorothy Hire of Millersburg turned 100 on Sept. 8 and a celebration was thrown in her honor Sept. 11 at Sunnyside Park Pavilion in New Paris.
Her family provided the following information about her life.
Dorothy Mae Angel was born to Marshal and Lucille Angel at her Grandparent Stewart's Farm in Elkhart County.
She attended school at the Hex School in her early years before moving to Cromwell where she attended the Cromwell School playing basketball for The Spartans. She graduated in 1940.
On Nov. 23, 1941, Dorothy married Warren Hire. They began their married lives together in the Cromwell area. They moved to the Beck farm in Indian Village. At this home they brought five children into the world, Thomas, Stephen, Marsha, Marie and Quentin. It was there where they suffered the first of two devastating fires. The barn burned taking their herd of milk cows and several pieces of equipment. They rebuilt the barn and continued on.
In 1953, the family moved to the Shouts farm near Benton. Warren purchased a brand new 1953 Farmall Super M tractor. This is where Jon, Scott, and Melanie joined the family.
Once again in 1959 they packed up and moved to their present location, which was purchasing the Joint Farm near Millersburg. Two more children joined the clan, Lori and Angela. Dorothy has lived at this location for more than 60 years. The family lost their house and garage to yet another fire in February 1987. They rebuilt a new home which is where Dorothy currently lives. Dorothy has lived in Benton Township for all but 11 of her 100 years.
Besides raising her family, she also canned and froze produce from their garden. She also raised chickens to sell to support their family. She would butcher and cut them up to sell to customers for $1.
She also worked at Essex, Fashion Farm (the last time in her 90s), managed the Snack Shack at the Mount Wawasee Ski Lodge, Handy Pantry, owned and worked at Irene's Donut Shop and the D & W Restaurant in Ligonier. She ran a catering business, which was well known for her baked steak and homemade pies — Graham Cracker Pie being her specialty. She and Warren could be found working suppers at the Hex Grange and Richville Church. They also made maple syrup for their sugar camp. They cooked the syrup in the kitchen in their home.
Dorothy has belonged to several organizations over the years. Pythian Sisters, Life Member of Grange, Life Member of Richville Church, and Jayco Club. Dorothy's best friend was Betty Rice.
In her spare time, she enjoyed many years of camping, traveling and going to the casino. She and Warren traveled west to visit family up and down the West coast for several years. They visited Alaska and wintered in Apache Junction, Arizona.
Dorothy has 10 children as well as 26 grandkids, 54 great-grandkids and 26 great-great-grandkids. For a total of 106 grandkids.
