Mary Evelyn Killen

Mrs. Mary Evelyn Killen Dies Following Heart Attack Journal Correspondent Was Woman of Many Talents and Active in Civic Work. During World War II she was an airplane spotter. Mrs. M. Evelyn Killen, 79, died early Sunday afternoon [February 4, 1951] at her home near Killen's Pond, after a heart attack earlier in the day. She had been in ill health several years. Mrs. Killen was well-known as the Felton correspondent for The Harrington Journal and other newspapers. She was the widow of John W. Killen, a nurseryman, who died Feb. 5, 1929. Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Joseph Crockett, a Wilmington schoolteacher, and a son, William M. Killen, who lives at home. Another son was the late Ambrose B. Killen. Mrs. Killen, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter K. Meredith, was born near Sandtown, September 10, 1871. She attended a country school and later the old seminary, the building of which still stands at Felton, until the high school was built. She was in the first graduating class of the latter school, in 1889 after which she attended Swarthmore College for two years. Her outside activities were many. Besides taking a prominent part in church work, she was an active member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. She was secretary of Trophy Grange for many years and took a part in home demonstration club work. Mrs. Killen's interest were varied. She was particularly interested in history and once wrote an article on Burnite's Mill for The Journal. Earlier in the century she was interested in photography, taking pictures with a plate camera and developing them herself. She was also interested in raising flowers. Burial was in Barratt's Chapel Cemetery, Frederica. Evelyn was a charter member of the Felton Community Fire Company Auxiliary. According to her birth date, Evelyn would have been 69 years of age when she joined, making her our oldest member at that time. This web site article was prepared by Sandy Wood using information contained in Evelyn’s obituary published in the Harrington Journal on February 9, 1951. Prepared on June 15, 2015.