CARTHAGE, Ill. (WGEM/Gray News) – A woman who lived through the roaring 20s is making a difference one century later.
Eleanor Junk, of Illinois, turned 106 years old in September.
Now, she’s living her best life at Hickory Grove Supportive Care spending quality time with friends she’s made there and giving back to the community.
Junk regularly volunteers to pack lunches for children in her community on the weekends and doesn’t pass up any other opportunities that may arise.
She regularly exercises at the facility and never drank alcohol, but she said faith was one of her biggest secrets to her long life.
“Dad loved to sing,” Junk said. “So, he always took us to church.”
Junk also enjoys other activities at the facility, such as bingo.
Junk can say she lived through the Great Depression, grew up in a family with seven other siblings, and had a passion for horseback riding.
She was also a well-known schoolteacher at West Point and Bowen.
“One time down in Bowen…it was in a meeting, [people asked] ‘how many of you had Mrs. Junk?’ And about every hand went up!” Junk said.
Copyright 2025 WGEM via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.