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Conservation Runs in the Family at Maysie's in West Vincent
By Anne Pickering
Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
February 20, 2007
Maysie Henrotin, the namesake of MaysieÕs Farm Conservation Center, died Oct. 13, 2006, at the age of 84.
Many knew Henrotin from her long association with the Chester County Airport outside of Coatesville where she worked answering the phone and the radio, frequently helping pilots in trouble. An accomplished licensed pilot herself, at one time she owned a Cessna 150 and flew it to California to visit her son, Sam Cantrell. His motherÕs passion for aviation was so great that any conversation you had with her ultimately revolved around flying, said Cantrell.
In the early 1990s, Henrotin stopped flying. For many years, Henrotin worked at the airport and also for then state Rep. Sam Morris. Upon retiring at the age of 75, Henrotin threw herself into helping her sonÕs organic farming business.
The 64-acre farm has been in the family since 1951. Cantrell recalled growing up on the farm that his father worked in addition to a regular off-farm job. When his parents divorced, Maysie Henrotin stayed on the farm and leased out the acreage to a commercial farmer. It wasnÕt until Cantrell moved back to the farm in 1995 that he started an organic farming business.
About the same time, his mother retired and became "my primary weeder. Every day after breakfast she would go outside and weed until the 6 p.m. news came on," said Cantrell. She enjoyed talking to members of the CSA, (Community Supported Agriculture). An active woman all her life, she even mowed the lawn up until the last year of her life.
"Maysie loved the farm. When she lived here all alone, she could have said, ÔItÕs too much to maintain — the house, the barn, letÕs sell,' but she never did."
When she turned 80, the Chester County commissioners awarded her a commendation for her commitment to conservation.