NEWS

DeBord retires after 56 years of cosmetology

Sara Nealeigh
Reporter

CHILLICOTHE – Hilda Mae DeBord thought she was just coming into town Friday morning for a massage.

But a few white lies and strategic planning led her to the Cut n’ Style hair salon, where her friends and co-workers had planned a surprise retirement party.

Streamers hung from the ceiling, food was set out, and there was a customary retirement cake. Loyal customers, friends, and family dropped in throughout the day to say thank you to a woman who had been been keeping the hairs on their head in order for 56 years.

DeBord has been doing hair, and doubling as a councilor, for her customers since she began her cosmetology career in 1959. She had been working at a restaurant when she decided that she wanted to be a “hair dresser,” so she began taking classes at the beauty school on Water Street.

DeBord admittedly did a lot of walking in those days, saying she walked from her restaurant job to the beauty school and then to home at night.

All that walking led her into a long and successful career. DeBord worked at several salons through the years, including Jerry’s Beauty Salon, where she got her start.

In 1967, she was able to open her own salon, and operated it for 11 years before selling the business. The building that originally housed Mae’s Beauty Salon also is the current location of her most recent salon of employment, the Cut n’ Style.

“This place had an ad in The Gazette for $50 a month. I thought, ‘Surely I can afford that,’ ” DeBord said of renting the shop space at 87 E. Second St. for the first time.

Friend and co-worker Laura Thompson bought the store, with a loan from DeBord, and created what is now Cut n’ Style. The two had worked together previously in another salon, and DeBord told Thompson that she wasn’t allowed to leave that place without her.

When Thompson decided to open Cut n’ Style six years ago, DeBord rented a booth from her and spent the remainder of her career among friends.

“She’s a good woman to have as a friend and more like a mom to me,” Thompson said.

Looking back over her past 56 years of friendship and work, DeBord had one way to sum it all up.

“It’s been a busy life,” she said. “It’s been a good life.”