Henrietta Creighton

1924 - 2022

Creighton, Henrietta, - 98, of Sea Isle, NJ & Jensen Beach, FL Henrietta Ann Edwards Creighton, a member of the Greatest Generation, passed away March 8, 2022 with her family at her side. Born January 10, 1924 her 98-year lifespan was filled with love for her family, country, God and an insatiable curiosity about the people and world around her. Growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania during the Great Depression her experiences in that era seem almost quaint to us today. She had no store-bought clothes until almost through High School. She worked during WWII helping to build airplanes for the war effort as well as replace the manpower the farm lost as able-bodied men went to war. She gathered around the radio at 7 pm each evening to listen to the news with the whole family. Anything she and the family ate had to be grown or raised on the farm. Preserving vegetables and fruit as well as slaughtering hogs and making sausage and scrapple was part of life. A one room school prior to High School as well as an outhouse were not the exception…but the rule. She met Bill Creighton while building airplanes during the war. Like so many of the Greatest Generation, they were not afraid of hard work or trying something new. A small hardware store called Creighton's Trading Post on an island in Southern New Jersey was the start. It blossomed over time to become an important part of the community and a source of employment for so many who have good memories of Bill and Etta and their business "family". Fun and travel were awfully important and booking passage on a freighter to South America or traveling to Finland, Russia, Peru or Alaska was another way to make new friends and learn new things. Living a Christian Life was so much a part of her being that it radiated to and was reflected by those around her. She saw everyone as a child of God with the potential to inspire and serve those around them, even when they didn't recognize their own capacity to do so. To her, "God Bless America" was not just something Kate Smith sang years ago, but a hymn and prayer to remind us of our blessings and responsibilities in troubled times. She leaves Children: Mark Creighton, Betty (Joe) Tocci and Vance (Connie) Creighton. Grandchildren: Faith (Leon) Vincent, Brian (Kathy) Creighton, Heather (Ronnie) Walker, Michael (Aleksandra) Tocci, Raquel (Dan) DeTullio, Julietta Tocci and Jacquelyn Tocci. Great Grandchildren: Abby Creighton, Sam Creighton, Rachel Walker, Sarah Walker, Hannah Walker, Siena Vincent, Joseph Metodi Tocci, William (Megan) Tocci, Nickolas Conklin, Victoria Hamilton, Mia Vasquez, Marcus Tocci-Esher, Jaden Tocci-Rogers, Kalla Tocci-Rogers and Lenox Tocci-Rogers. Great Great Grandchildren: Noah Tocci, Leo Tocci, Cole Tocci, Jude Conklin, Eli Conklin, Grace Conklin, Henrietta Conklin and Jackson Walker. Those wishing to contribute to an organization in her name might consider: The Wetlands Institute, 1075 Stone Harbor Boulevard, Stone Harbor, New Jersey 08247.