NORTH CAPE MAY – Helen Eppehimer, of Villas, took a day off from her job assisting her daughter with teaching CPR classes to celebrate her 100th birthday May 10.
Close to 40 friends, colleagues and students gathered at Vincenzo’s Little Italy, in North Cape May, to wish her well.
Eppehimer retired from a career as a CPR instructor for the Lower Township Rescue Squad, but still assists her daughter, Naomi Nichols, an Air Force veteran and CPR instructor-partner, when a large group needs instruction.
CPR instruction has always been a family business because Eppehimer’s father, William, a World War II veteran, got her and her daughter involved in the Lower Township Rescue Squad, in 1980.
The mother-daughter team provides lifesaving instruction not only to first responders, like police and firefighters, but also commercial fishermen, hotel employees, churches, schools and others needing recertification or just want to learn how to react in an emergency.
Many days, they work out of their garage and, since the Covid pandemic, sanitize the CPR mannequin between students, practice social distancing and wear masks.
Over the years, Nichols estimates she has instructed over 10,000 students in lifesaving CPR, while her mother taught over 7,000.
Eppehimer and her daughter continue to teach under the umbrella of Shore Medical Center, in Somers Point, and the American Heart Association.
When asked about her secret to longevity, Eppehimer cited good health habits and her faith.
“I don’t drink or smoke, and I thank the Lord. He has been the one who has seen me through all my years. I have Him as savior. He’s the one.”
To contact Carl Price, email cprice@cmcherald.com.
