Margaret Lepley is 105 and the oldest among Green Valley’s 31 centenarians. Every centenarian visited this year received a basket with a small bundt cake, chocolate bar, handkerchief and faux potted plant.
Green Valley resident Dora McIlhenny with a likeness she sculpted of her late husband David.
Ellen Sussman photo
For the Green Valley News
Margaret Lepley is 105 and the oldest among Green Valley’s 31 centenarians. Every centenarian visited this year received a basket with a small bundt cake, chocolate bar, handkerchief and faux potted plant.
At 102 years old, Dora McIlhenny has decades of memories that keep her smiling.
An artist at heart, she is so skilled in different areas of the arts that she designed the house and landscaped the garden on the property she and her late husband, David McIlhenny, built in Green Valley.
“Dora gathered river rock and placed every stone on the property by herself. She built the terraces and paths surrounding the house. She planted native plants and English roses,” said close friend Peggy Tans.
Dora McIlhenny, at right, with friend Peggy Tans.
Ellen Sussman photos
For the Green Valley News
Born in Chicago, Dora lived in England from the age of 10 months until she was a young woman and her life of adventures began.
Her mother wanted her to be nurse, but at age 17 she stayed in school and took art classes every afternoon. One day a business man came into the school looking for a student to work for him. He chose Dora, and for the next two years she learned to do design art and advertising.
Then came World War II and Dora needed another job.
“Dora walked to an aerodrome near her home where they designed and made airplanes. She walked in and said, ‘I need a job.’ Someone in the drafting department asked if she could ‘show a straight line in three different ways',” Tans explained.
Dora responded well and was hired. She was paid the same wage as the men and remembers they weren’t thrilled about that. But they learned to like her.
How did she reach 102? Her answer was quick: “By accident,” she quipped, with still a bit of her English accent.
A main event in her life was her desire to leave England after the war. She filled out an application with Chicago as her place of birth. When immigration officials saw that, she was able to leave quickly without having to go endure the difficulty of getting a visa.
On the ship from England to the U.S, Dora met the ship’s handsome purser, David McIlhenny. They married six months later.
“After they were married, David was hired to be the administrator of the Panama Canal Hospital in Colon, Panama, where they lived for the next 30 years,” Tans explained.
“Dora worked as a manager of several different libraries. She continued to draw and paint and collected art, especially Chinese art, from a Hungarian art dealer she befriended in Colon.”
The McIlhennys returned to the U.S. in 1978 and, after designing and landscaping their home in Green Valley, Dora expanded her art talent to include sculpture and abstract art.
One treasured piece is a plaster sculpture of her husband David’s head.
Another lasting memory is when Dora’s father-in-law came to visit them in Panama.
“He stayed for a year and a half. They shared a lot of qualities,” she said of her husband and father-in-law.
Looking at the various collectibles gathered during Dora’s lifetime, Tans said Dora could tell where every item in the house was from.
No longer creating art, Dora now enjoys watching birds at a feeder outside the window and welcoming family that comes to visit from Utah, New York City, Colorado, England, New Zealand and Canada.
Contact Green Valley News freelance reporter Ellen Sussman at ellen2414@cox.net.
Discuss the news on NABUR, a place to have local conversations The Neighborhood Alliance for Better Understanding and Respect ✔ A site just for our local community ✔ Focused on facts, not misinformation ✔ Free for everyone
The number of centenarians living in Green Valley keeps increasing!
For the 2022 list of residents who have reached their 100th birthday in recent years, or who will be 100 this year, the numbers locally have increased from 13 in 2009 to 31 centenarians for 2022.
There are now more than double the number of residents who are reaching, or have reached 100 and beyond this year.
Perhaps it’s due to the easy living and good weather in Green Valley!
Good humor plays a role, too! Cynthia Valencia, director of sales and marketing at Silver Springs, sent this comment when a new resident took on the title as oldest resident.
“Margaret Lepley turned 105 yesterday (April) and Evelyn Hedlund turns 105 in July. Evie was a bit miffed when Margaret moved in and she lost her title as oldest resident,” Valencia quipped.
Listed from oldest to youngest, we honor and celebrate each centenarian.
