Sunset Terrace resident marks 101sth birthday

“Live day by day,” she said. “Take it as it comes.”

Like a year ago, when she celebrated her 100th, she was on the receiving end of many good wishes last week when Sunset Terrace hosted a birthday gathering for her.

Born in Lexington, Massachusetts, she spent part of her youth in Yarmouth, leaving the area at around 14 or 15 with her family to live in Ontario, returning a few years later and going to work in a telegraph office.

She later moved to Winnipeg after her parents died – her brother lived there at the time – but eventually she settled in Montreal, where she lived for 25 years, doing office work – “I worked for chartered accountants,” she said – until she retired in the early 1970s and moved back to Yarmouth.

“I loved Montreal,” she recalled of her stay in the city that played host to Expo ’67, an event that impressed her immensely.

“It was wonderful,” Redding said. “It was magic.”

Millions of people attended the international fair that was held over a six-month period in Canada’s Centennial Year.

Having enjoyed Montreal, however, she opted to return to Yarmouth. She lived on Parade Street before moving to her present home.

Asked about the childhood years she spent in Yarmouth, she said she recalled nothing particularly special about those days, but she has positive memories of the experience.

“I just grew up like any other person,” she said. “I had a cousin and we were very close. We were almost like sisters…We had the same friends.”

Her brother, Stuart, her only sibling, was a little older than she was. He died quite some time ago.

Of Sunset Terrace, her home for the past dozen years or so, she said, “I like it very much. It’s a nice place to be.”

As for her longevity, she expressed gratitude for the life she has had and continues to enjoy.

“I was fortunate to have good health,” she said.