The number of Canadians living to 100 and over reached a record high in 2021. Some centenarians say getting there is about keeping your hands busy, having a loving family, and enjoying the little pleasures of life.
New data released by Statistics Canada shows that the number of Canadians aged 100 or over has increased from just 1,065 in 1971 to 9,545 in the 2021 census. Most Canadian centenarians – 7,715 – are women.
The increase cannot be explained simply by population growth. In 1971, only 4.9 people out of every 100,000 Canadians were 100 or older; in 2021 it is 25.8 per 100,000 people.
Laura Tamblin Watts is the founder and CEO of CanAge, a national advocacy organization for the elderly. She said Canadians are now living much longer thanks to improved drug therapies and vaccines combined with a more active lifestyle.
“We are more in the world, we walk more, we do more exercise and we have more flexibility in our work schedule,” she said.
“It’s a big change from being stuck in offices and factories, as we were used to in much earlier years. Movement matters.”
Watts said loneliness also shortens lives, and people today have more ways to keep in touch than previous generations. But the biggest factor, she said, is the decline in tobacco use.
“We’re really starting to see a narrowing of that now, as generations don’t smoke that much,” she said.
Mildred Ladybitter, a former Cape Breton, NS, is 101. She said she looks forward to celebrating her 102nd birthday next June – an occasion that usually means a scotch gift.
She said she drank only a small drink on the weekends, never used ice and never added enough water to “drown” him.
“The doctor from the clinic came to Cape Breton and he said, ‘If you drink scotch, you’ll live a long life and you won’t have any common illnesses,'” she said from her daughter’s home in Pembroke, Ont. where he lives now. “And I have no common diseases and I have lived a long life. He told the truth.”
Mildred Ladybitter holds a photo of her during World War II, when she served as a teletype operator in Ottawa. (transmitted)
Born in 1920, Leadbeater is the seventh child of Scottish immigrant parents in Glace Bay, NS. She is a twin, but her sister and mother die in childbirth; she herself was ill as a newborn. Her father, she said, turned out to be a single father of six and unprepared to deal with a child who was not expected to live very long.
A neighbor offered to adopt Ladybitter, and she grew up living with her biological siblings, surviving them all, and she herself became the mother of seven children.
Leadbeater said she believes her longevity was made possible by playing the piano and maintaining a positive attitude.
“I’m from a Scottish family and I’ve played a lot of Scottish music with the violinists … so I guess that helped me along the way,” she said.
Mildred Ladybitter says she has played the piano all her life. (transmitted)
“The gentleman gave me a good mood and I still have it and I don’t know, I laugh at many things, I don’t pay attention to many things.
“I look at the happy side of life and have had a happy life. That’s why I’m still here. This is just my makeup. I’ve always been casual. If something happens, I just say, “Well, it happened, it doesn’t make sense to make a big story out of nothing.”
Jane Rylett is the Research Director of the Institute on Aging at the Canadian Institute for Health Research. She said that while Leadbeater is on the right track, genetics also play a role.
“I think the attitude costs a lot in this area. I really think it’s a combination of good genes, attitude and a good healthy lifestyle, “she said. “That doesn’t mean you can’t have a glass of scotch from time to time.”
Douglas Keirsted celebrates his 103rd birthday in January 2022 at the Veterans Health Center in Moncton, NB (sent)
The positive attitude seems to have made a difference for Douglas Kiersted, who turned 103 this year. Born in Coles Island, NB, Keirsted has been married twice. After the death of his second wife, he lived alone until he was 100 years old.
He now lives at the Veterans Health Center in Moncton, New York, where he has nothing to say but good things about the people he spends his days with.
“It couldn’t be better. As far as I’m concerned, that’s perfect,” he told the residence. “They’re just such nice people. I don’t know how they could put together so many who are so good.”
Kiersted also said he was lucky to have a “wonderful family that grows old” and keeps happy memories of his loved ones.
“They are so close to me that it is unrealistic,” he said.
His life has not always been easy. Disturbed by the time he served in World War II, he said it took him a long time to return to civilian life afterwards. He suffered a heart attack in 1985 and spent 12 days in intensive care, but recovered from it.
Douglas Kierstead wears military medals at Veterans Health Center in Moncton, NB (Sent)
Like the Leadbeater with piano playing, Keirstead – a father of two and a second father of two – is busy weaving colored blankets by hand. He is now working on his 50th.
“And they’re practically all in my family,” he said. “I’m working on one and I have fabric for two more and they will be for my great-grandchildren.”
Kiersted said he didn’t know how he got past 100 – he never thought about it until it happened – but having a loving family and a positive outlook have always helped him.
“I was quite happy with everything,” he said. “Growing up, I had a wonderful family.
Ladybitter said she was looking forward to her 102nd birthday this summer and that, “at the Lord’s request”, she expected to live to celebrate another. Asked what younger people can do to follow in her footsteps, she gives some simple tips.
“What they need to do is be happy in their personal lives, not unhappy, but happy and do what they think is right,” she said. “And don’t worry about it.”
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