When she was born, Gibson’s Landing was just 25 years old, Wilfrid Laurier was prime minister, and the First World War hadn’t started yet.
Freda England arrived on the Sunshine Coast when she was 96 and has stayed long enough to become its oldest resident. On Saturday, March 10, she celebrated her 107th birthday at Christenson Village in Gibsons, surrounded by four generations of family.
Born in 1911, she emigrated from Devon, England in 1919 to Montreal. From there her family, including three sisters and one brother, moved to Winnipeg, where they coped with the Great Depression. “I remember that so much because I couldn’t get a job. I hunted and hunted, went everywhere,” said England from her room at Christenson Village.
She met her first husband in the 1930s and moved west to Canoe, B.C., to be with the rest of her family. It was here that she experienced a transformative moment in her life. She had a job packing apples, and after enduring a week of chest pain, was driven to the hospital, where they discovered complications with her reproductive organs and was sent immediately for surgery. “I had two big blood transfusions.” England was unable to have children – a loss she expressed from her wheelchair on her birthday.
Eventually she divorced, and in 1956 married her second husband, Charlie. They moved to Vancouver, where Freda worked as a seamstress. “I used to make everything that anybody wanted. Wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses.” Her craft gave her long-lasting relationships, too. “For 30 years I dressed the hairdresser. I made everything she wore,” said England.
Her second husband died of Alzheimer’s, and after years living in East Vancouver, she moved to the Sunshine Coast to be closer to her niece, Sandy Hendricks, her primary caregiver.
“I don’t really know,” said England when asked about her secret to longevity, before adding that she walked no less than a mile every day. Hendricks ventured it’s her aunt’s lifetime of routine including daily exercise and a healthy diet that’s done it. England agreed. “I kept myself slim. I didn’t get stout like some people at my age.”
Hendricks said her aunt has always been independent, which gave her the gumption to try new things like learn to drive at the age of 65, and take up weightlifting at 80. “She knew she had to look after herself and she did a very good job,” said Hendricks.
As she prepared for the birthday celebrations at the seniors residence, and surrounded by nephews and nieces, who praised England’s devotion to their care growing up and her active lifestyle as a senior, England – always the individual –opted for introspection.
“I never went anywhere very much. I always stayed by myself.”
“Auntie Freda, that’s not true,” said Hendricks, gently chastising, arms around her aunt. “You went to tai chi, you went line dancing, you bowled.”
“I did,” admitted England.
“You played cards twice a week, you belonged to the Renfrew Auxiliary, you belonged to the ANAVETS. You were gone every single day of the week, morning, afternoon. Everyday. And you never went out?”
“Not all that much,” said England. “I looked after myself.”
