‘Granny Hill’ Celebrates 106 Years

Granny Hill, as Julia Jones Hill is affectionately called by many of her family members, celebrated her 106th birthday Sunday. Yes, I said 106.

I know she looks to be way younger than that…she sounds and acts way younger too!

Granny Hill moved to Jasper County in February 2020, just before Covid hit. She had lived in Conyers since 1950 where she and her husband ran a dairy farm. Marion W. Hill and Julia Jones were married 73 years before he died. She remained in Conyers after that and lived alone until moving to Jasper County. She continued to garden in Conyers, and sufficed just fine on her own.

But, probably with a little urging, she did decide to move in with her daughter, Dodie Hill Proctor, on Clay Road in Monticello in 2020. At the Proctor house, she does her share. She helps fold clothes, empties the dishwasher, and cooks herself and her daughter breakfast each morning. They have toast and jelly. She buys French bread which she slices very thin, and toasts five slices each for them to enjoy.

When asked about the past, Mrs. Hill isn’t sure how to respond. After all, she has lots of memories. Some of the older ones are the most amazing. Like she remembers when her daddy had a store on the corner for Briarcliff Road and Clairmont Road in Atlanta, and those roads were dirt. She remembers driving a T Model to deliver dry goods from the store to customers when she was 10-12 years old. She attended Chamblee High School where she was on the state champion basketball team four years straight.

She said when the young girls (sixth graders) would go into the gym at lunch to play basketball the older girls would run them off. Then one day the principal/head coach learned what was happening. He saw how the young girls wanted to play and informed the big girls they had to let the youngsters in, and that he was going to coach them. He did that, and the team won state four years straight. Then, Mr. Smith retired. (Mrs. Hill doesn’t remember his first name, which is understandable since she would have called him coach.)

Mrs. Hill attended Georgia State College for Women, now Georgia College & State University, receiving a teaching certificate. She taught briefly at Southwest Dekalb before marrying. The Hills began working at her father’s dairy in Decatur, and Julia kept bugging her husband that he needed his own farm. He had some cows at her father’s farm, and helped his father-in-law in the business, but Julia wanted more.

They learned of a farm for sale in Rockdale County, and after much urging, Mr. Hill agreed to buy it, and he and Julia began their own dairy. They raised three children, Judy, Dodie, and Ray. Mrs. Hill said she sewed her children’s clothes, but didn’t keep sewing when the need was not there.

During this time, Mrs. Hill stayed active in church, even when Mr. Hill was unable to attend. She has a pin signifying 55 years of Sunday School attendance without missing a day at Smyrna Presbyterian Church in Rockdale County. Now that’s an accomplishment!

When I asked about her oldest memory, she said she remembers when the family moved, when she was about four, to the back of the dry goods store. She has lots of memories from her time at the store. Meanwhile her dad built a big house, two stories, and they moved into it when she was eight. She and her daughter laugh that daddy’s dog’s name was “Did he bite you?”

Mrs. Hill said her mother had a baby every other year, but four of the babies died, so she and her three sisters are all four years apart.

She remembers when Briarcliff Road and Clairmont Roads got paved. She remembered being the one to “pull the plunger” to ignite the dynamite for a well that was being drilled. In 1950, the Hills moved to Rockdale, and on the farm they had an extra, relatively small, house. She said many married couples got their start there, perhaps helping out at the farm and living on the property. When they started a family, they had to move on…that’s the way it was. She said they’d probably rented the house to as many as 60 couples through the years.

She talks about how her father came to acquire land. She said he would purchase small lots when they were available, and he had the money. Then he would cut the timber and build houses which he rented. He also delivered coal.

When asked about the Depression she said it really didn’t affect her. She said her daddy had the store, so they were able to get needed supplies. Her husband did not have to go to war because he provided an essential service with the dairy. His draft card was #4, but he was deferred.

One Christmas, when she was about 13, she woke up and found no baby doll under the tree for her. She was very disappointed. Her daddy didn’t like seeing her cry, and assured her Santa would stop back by on his way back to the North Pole. Lo and behold, her daddy went and bought every doll he thought she’s like and she ended up with 13 dolls that Christmas.

Mrs. Hill watches all sports on television…a passion not shared by her daughter. But Mrs. Hill says it’s fine, there’s another television. She is looking forward to the Masters coming up in April. When her sisters were alive, they would discuss all the sports in telephone conversations.

Besides being an excellent basketball player, Mrs. Hill played some tennis when she was younger, to. When asked if she watches it on TV, she said there’s not much tennis on television.

After the Hills sold the dairy and retired, Mr. and Mrs. Hill began helping their daughter, Dodie, in her ceramic shop in Conyers.

In total, Mrs. Hill has 12 grandchildren, 43 great-grandchildren, and 18 great-great-grandchildren. They range in age one month old, Kendall Jade Guthrie, to the oldeste at 62, Guy Norman.

Mrs. Hill keeps a jigsaw puzzle up all the time, continuously working on it in her spare time. Currently she is working on a 1,000 piece puzzle with lots of cats. It looks really hard, but she’s got it!

Mrs. Hill does not look her age, and did her own nails until a few months ago. She gets her hair done each Friday by her granddaughter, Maritsa Leggett at Maritsa’s Place, and now that she has a hard time doing her nails, Maritsa takes care of that too!

Mrs. Hill says she has no pain when she gets up in the morning, and she says she’s had a good life all her life and has never had to do without.