Overton Woman Celebrates Lucky 100

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

A long-time resident of Overton officially crossed the century mark last week. Jane Eckman, who lives in the Robbins Nest trailer park just south of downtown Overton, celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday.

More than four generations of Eckman’s descendants traveled to Overton from around the western U.S. to be there with their matriarch for this special occasion.
“It has been a beautiful life, and a hard life,” Eckman said in an interview last week with The Progress. “But I feel good; no aches or pains. And I have no complaints, really.”

Eckman was born on March 4, 1923 in Luray, Virginia; a small town in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She grew up in Luray attending school there.

She said that she remembered vividly when, at the age of 17, she received the news that Japan had bombed the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor, marking the beginning of American troops’ involvement in World War II.
“I quit school and went to work in a textile plant during the war to make nylon for parachutes for our troops,” Eckman said. “The plant was full of women workers at that time.”

It was in Luray that young Jane met Joseph Eckman, the man who would be her husband. A Philadelphia native, Joseph was in Luray working for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). At the age of 17, he was helping to build Skyline Drive, through the newly established Shenandoah National Park.

Shortly after that, Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Navy and went to fight in the Pacific. He was assigned to the USS Atlanta.

He was on the Atlanta when it was scuttled following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942. Joe, a member of the demolition team that remained on board after evacuation, was subsequently lost at sea for 13 hours following the setting of charges and abandoning ship.

Jane said that she heard about the fate of the Atlanta on the radio. A short time later, Joseph’s parents received notification that he had been lost with the ship.
“It wasn’t until about six weeks later that we got word that he had survived,” Jane said.

The couple was married in 1943 and, at 20 years old, Jane left her hometown of Luray and moved to Pennsylvania with her husband.

They had four children including Martha, Joseph E., Kenneth and Thomas. All three sons also served their country in various branches of the military. Kenneth was killed while serving in Vietnam.
“We started out with just six of us,” Jane said of her family. “Now there are four and five generations of Eckmans. There’s a whole lot that came from so few!”

Jane and Joseph moved their family to Layton, Utah in 1958 whild Joseph worked at Hill Air Force Base for another 28 years.

Jane said that she loves to cook. She spent many years as a cook in a Chinese restaurant and became very skilled at that cuisine. She sad that making a good Chinese-style meal is kind of a lost art these days.
“Sometimes I go to Chinese restaurants and they just don’t have it right,” she said. “It is kind of disappointing.”

Throughout her life, Jane has gathered a treasure trove of her special recipes. She keeps them all in a large book that her family lovingly calls the Recipe Bible.

Joseph finally retired in 1986 and the Eckmans took to the road in their travel trailer. They ended up in southern Nevada. They started at a trailer park in Boulder City. Then one day the Eckmans went for a leisurely drive and ended up in Overton.
“We were just out exploring – which is something that people don’t do nearly enough anymore,” Jane said. “And we stopped here for lunch. We decided we really liked it here. So we decided to stay.”

Joseph passed away in July 2017, just a couple of weeks shy of the Eckman’s 75th wedding anniversary.

Asked what her secret is for living such a long life, Eckman said simply, “I don’t smoke, don’t drink and I eat right.”