Maritime family getting ready to celebrate second centenarian sister
It’s not often a family gets to celebrate a centenarian, let alone two, but that’s what one Maritime family is getting ready to do.
Ferne Edgecombe, of Stratford, P.E.I., is getting ready for her 100th birthday in just over a month.
She’ll be celebrating it with her two sisters, Violet Oicle, of Cole Harbour, N.S., and Myrtle Fitzpatrick, of Charlottetown.
Violet marked her 100th birthday in 2020, and Myrtle isn’t far behind, set to celebrate hers in four years.
The sisters are originally from Dartmouth, N.S., and Ferne recalls growing up in Nova Scotia.
“Where I grew up in Dartmouth, the Halifax Harbour was just a five-minute walk away,” said Ferne. “We would go down to the water and swim there and it was just great.”
The sisters have had more time together than many do and Ferne says that’s shaped their relationship over the years.
“I enjoyed our relationship,” said Ferne. “Because I felt we never were really very far apart, in distance or in friendship.”
Ferne went to school with her older sister, Violet, and remembers the two of them working nearby as young women.
"Even when we worked in Halifax, she and I would have the same lunch hour and would go shopping,” said Ferne. “Enjoy the time."
The three sisters all still live in their homes -- in Stratford, Charlottetown and Cole Harbour.
Ferne’s birthday is Jan. 12 and she’s planning to have her two sisters over for the party.
When asked what the secret is to such a long life, Violet had some advice for her sister.
“Staying active, because if you don’t use it, you lose it,” said Violet, the oldest sister of the three. “So, I stay as active as I can.”
Violet takes her own advice, making her own meals and doing her own laundry.
However, she does have one preference when it comes to staying active.
“I just hope I stay well enough so I can keep on canoeing,” said Violet. “[I] paddle that canoe all over the lake and it’s great.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirms his party will support the Liberals' federal budget
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.