A Lifetime a Legacy: Etta Creighton

Etta Creighton Lived Her 98 Years to the Fullest

Bill and Etta Creighton on the family farm in Seaville.

Longtime Sea Isle resident Henrietta Ann Edwards Creighton died March 8 at the age of 98. A world traveler and a product of the Great Depression, “Etta,” as she was called, worked hard throughout her life.

Mrs. Creighton’s story begins about 20 miles north of Philadelphia in Prospectville, Pa., where she was raised on a family farm. She rose early each morning to milk cows.

“My mother’s family would fill their truck full of their vegetables and fruit and sell them house to house,” says daughter Betty Tocci, adding that her mother’s family got by during the Depression by bartering: “If a family member needed a dentist, that dentist got apples as payment. One woman gave them shoes every year in exchange for food.”

And while Mrs. Creighton didn’t take part in slaughtering the pigs on the farm, she could break a chicken’s neck. “I knew she didn’t like doing it,” Tocci says. “Her sister wouldn’t kill the chickens, so mom would.”

Mrs. Creighton witnessed the stark reality of her time. And she never forgot it.

“My mother’s neighbors lost their house to the bank,” Tocci says. “She watched as the family packed their belongings, what they could fit into their truck, and leave everything behind. It made a lasting impression on her.”

Mrs. Creighton inherited her strong constitution from her mother, Henrietta Miksza, who arrived at Ellis Island from Poland at the age of 12. As a teenager, her parents sent her off to work as a maid for a wealthy family. Then when World War I began, she went to work on a farm. She became part of the Women’s Land Army of America, a civilian organization modeled after the British Women’s Land Army. There, Henrietta Miksza met Marcus Edwards, whom she would marry.

And though her formal education was limited, she never stopped learning. Says Tocci: “She was one of the smartest people I ever met.”

Like her mother, Mrs. Creighton also had a gift for acquiring knowledge.

Bill and Etta Creighton posing next to Creighton’s Trading Post on 42nd Street.

Her first-born, Mark Creighton, says his mother was interested in holistic medicine and the environment before it was popular or politically correct. He remembers her reading “Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson, which exposed the dangers of pesticides.

When Mrs. Creighton became interested in something, everyone had to know. Like when she developed a fascination for seashells. She once traveled to South America with her grandson Nick after reading about an expedition that interested her. She traveled to China, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Finland and Sweden. In later years, she decided everybody needed to sing “God Bless America.”

“We talk about the greatest generation,” her son says. “She was the epitome. Strong beliefs. Attachment to faith. To church. To her community. It was all important to her. She had a boldness and curiosity about people and everyone around her.”

Mrs. Creighton yearned to do more. But her options were limited.

“Growing up, my mother hoped to be a nurse,” Tocci says. “But her family needed food. And she was working on a farm most of the time. She didn’t get to do what she wanted.”

During World War II, she was employed by the Budd Company in Philadelphia, where her job was to put deicer boots on the wings of aircraft. There, she met Bill Creighton, who ran an overhead crane. He was unable to serve in the war due to the effects of polio.

After a brief courtship the couple married in 1944, and began a family, welcoming their son in 1945. After World War II ended, Bill Creighton moved his young family to Florida when he landed a job as head instructor of aircraft and engine mechanics at Stengel Flying Service. Two years later, in 1947, their daughter was born.

Etta and Bill with their children (from left) Vance, Betty and Mark.

Six months later, the Creighton family moved to Sea Isle City. On the recommendation of Bill’s brother, Dick, who owned a successful hardware store in Ocean City, the Creightons started their own business, Sea Isle Hardware. The store was located on Landis Avenue, next door to what today is Diamonds Liquor.

In 1949, their third child, Vance, was born. And in 1956 they relocated Sea Isle Hardware to 4118 Landis, next to what was then Nixon’s Bakery. The Acme was located across the street. It was a prime location.

“Dad started out on a shoestring,” Vance Creighton says. “He wouldn’t buy a dozen of an item. He would only buy one or two. And when they sold out, my mother would drive with me from the time I was in diapers to age 5, to Trenton, Atlantic City, or Philadelphia to pick up additional merchandise.”

In 1961, the Acme moved to 62nd and Landis. The Creightons took advantage of the opportunity to expand and purchased the building. “Our hardware store across the street was still operating,” says Vance. “So, we were running two stores at the same time.”

Meanwhile, as Mrs. Creighton was busy caring for the children, she managed to canvas for businesspeople to rent booths in Creighton’s Trading Post, their newly opened store, since she and Bill didn’t have enough money to fully stock the shelves.

“They had everything from jewelry to shoes, to a woman named Carolyn who sold music and some musical instruments,” Vance says of the variety of merchants who rented space,

“One guy sold tiles,” says Mark.

“Another person sold bananas,” adds their sister, who operated a luncheonette counter there for several years.

Then came the March 1962 nor‘easter. The monster storm left enormous destruction in its wake. Mark, Betty, and Vance remember the mud left behind in the Trading Post and the destruction to businesses and homes in town, some in rubble.

For his part, their father was able to get hardware and plumbing materials on credit so that residents could rebuild.

“We weren’t the only ones helping,” says Mark. “The whole town was pulling together.”

A few years later, the Creightons closed Sea Isle Hardware and moved the merchandise into the Trading Post, a business that would thrive and remain in the family until 1989.

Etta poses at the Trading Post lunch counter with daughter Betty.

Creighton’s Trading Post was more than a go-to hardware and houseware store. To experience the Trading Post was also entertainment. There was an alligator, an iguana and a snake housed and displayed at the store. Various items hung from the rafters. For every season and holiday, Mrs. Creighton created elaborate and creative window displays.

Says Vance: “She read a lot. She listened to the news. You could pick a topic and if you knew what set her off, she’d give you 10 to 15 minutes of good conversation. She had an opinion about everything. And it was all thought out.”

You could say that Creighton’s Trading Post was as eccentric and whimsical as the savvy, adventurous woman who helped the business flourish. An avid churchgoer, she was quick to reach out to help people in need.

She left a lasting impression on her adopted hometown and to everyone she met. She stayed invested in life up until her final moments.

In addition to her three children, Mrs. Creighton is survived by seven grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and eight great-great-grandchildren.