106 years wise: Long live Helen Cockrell

During the 1918 flu epidemic, Helen Cockrell knew she was lucky.

“My whole family was sick with the flu and I never even took a cold,” Cockrell said.

Ninety-six years later, 106-year-old Cockrell has had surprisingly few health problems. She lived on her own with no assistance until last year when she broke her leg after a fall and was unable to get around on her own.

Walking into Cockrell’s home is like taking a step into the past. Throughout the rooms, you will find on display her collections of stamps, silver, paperweights and valentines.

As a young child, her father’s time in the Spanish-American War inspired her to begin her life-long hobby of collecting.

“When my father returned from the war in the Philippines, he brought all kinds of cloth and pieces representing the Far East. They were beautiful and interesting, so he accidentally got me collecting,” Cockrell said.

Part of her silver collection includes pieces from the original Tutwiler Hotel as well as several pieces of the hotel’s furniture. She worked at the hotel as a secretary at a time when hardly any women worked in the business world.

“The catering manager said, ‘Helen, I’ve got a barrel of old silver that we’re going to sell. You can go down there and take what you want.’ So I took a few nice pieces. I probably should have taken more,” Cockrell said.

After retiring, Cockrell used display cases to set up her collections and swap them out every now and then at the Homewood Public Library, where shevolunteered for 15 years.

“Every piece she has, she can tell you the story behind it,” said Deborah Fout, director of the Homewood Public Library. “She is just a wonderful person. I always felt like we were kindred spirits.”

Cockrell has lived in Homewood for more than 35 years and in the Birmingham area since she was eight years old.

During her childhood, Cockrell attended Pleasant Valley School, a one- room school house in Birmingham. She and her siblings were discriminated against because they had moved here from Evansville, Ind.

“Dad told the school board about our teacher’s behavior, and they transferred her,” Cockrell said.

Her father was assigned to be in charge of Birmingham Water Works when it first pened and ran it for more than 40 years.

“She can tell you all about how the filtration system works, even now,” Cockrell’s caretaker Kathryn Bingham said.

Cockrell went on to graduate from Shades Cahaba High School and after that Wheeler Business College before entering the workforce.

Her husband, Neal Cockrell, passed away at age 87 nearly 30 years ago. In December 2010, Cockrell lost her younger brother, Raymond. She is the last living member of her immediate family.

Although some might think she has a secret to living to 106, Cockrell says she’s just as surprised as everyone else.

“I haven’t done anything special. No one in my family has,” Cockrell said.

Her best guess is that she takes no medication and doesn’t see doctors.

“Her blood pressure is always perfect and so is her heart rate. It’s amazing,” Bingham said.

Friends say they admire Cockrell’s perspective.

“She has a different take on life than younger people. She’s a wealth of wisdom. I’m proud for her,” Fout said.