Isabel Gibson offers a rather droll answer when asked what she likes to do for fun these days.
“I go to bed early,” she quips.
Even if she isn’t joking, Gibson has certainly earned the right to hit the hay any old time she pleases.
The long-time Creighton resident turns 100 next week, a milestone she celebrated with family and friends at Northminster Memorial United Church this past Sunday, Nov. 20.
Gibson credits her impressive longevity to three factors.
“Lots of walking, and food’s important, and faith, too,” she says, still sharp and looking a good 20 years younger than her age.
Gibson also enjoys watching TV and playing cards, and is a voracious reader.
“I get a lot of books from the library,” she says, singling out biographies as her favourite.
Born in Ellisboro, Sask., on Dec. 2, 1916, Gibson can still remember growing up at nearby Breezy Point Farm and riding to school on a horse-drawn buggy.
Raised in a religious family, she is among the last remaining original members of the United Church of Canada, which was formed in 1925 when Methodists and most Presbyterians agreed to amalgamate their places of worship.
As a young woman, Gibson graduated from teachers’ college in Regina. She taught school on Vancouver Island and in several small Saskatchewan towns.
In about 1946, mutual friends invited her and a young Second World War veteran named Doug Gibson out for supper. Isabel and Doug hit it off, walking down the aisle in September 1950.
In 1960, following Doug’s stint as town administrator in Rocanville, Sask., the couple moved to Creighton. Doug became administrator for the Town of Creighton while Isabel continued teaching at Creighton Community School.
At the age of 69, Isabel upgraded her education by earning a Bachelor of Education. She taught one more year in Creighton, retiring in 1986 at the age of 70.
What did she enjoy about teaching? Here again, Isabel’s sense of humour shines through.
“When they ask me that, I say recess,” she jokes.
Over the years, Isabel and Doug enjoyed seeing different parts of the globe, travelling to Australia and Europe.
Asked how the world has changed over the last century, Gibson thinks for a moment before answering.
“The way people live now,” she says. “[They have] more money around and people are using more cars.”
Today Gibson is the matriarch of a large family that includes four children in sons Dave of Saskatoon, Fraser of Assiniboia, Sask., and Bruce of Creighton, and daughter Margie Gibson of Creighton. She also has seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
Daughter Margie Gibson looks at her mother with a deep sense of esteem.
“She’s very healthy. She’s very giving. She’s volunteered a lot,” says Gibson.
“I just really admire her for doing what she did, getting her degree when she was older, and she travelled a lot.”
Northminster Memorial United Church celebrated several other members’ life milestones on Nov. 20.
Around that date, Joe Dumenko turned 85 and wife Olga Dumenko turned 80. The couple also marked their 60th wedding anniversary.
Other birthdays celebrated were Blanche Fisher for turning 90, and Anna McEachern and
Norma Barr for turning 85.
