Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Celebrating Victoria centenarians tell secret of longevity

The secret to living to 100 has more to do with attitude than it does with diet or exercise, say those approaching the milestone or beyond it. “Just be happy,” said Bernice West, 101. “Keep calm,” said Rosemary Tait, 98.

The secret to living to 100 has more to do with attitude than it does with diet or exercise, say those approaching the milestone or beyond it.

“Just be happy,” said Bernice West, 101.

“Keep calm,” said Rosemary Tait, 98.

“No secret,” said Althea Stewart, 104. “It just comes naturally.”

The Victoria women are among about half a dozen who will be celebrated Wednesday at the Centenarian Recognition Tea at the James Bay Care Centre. The care facility counts four residents who are 100 and up, but will also celebrate those such as Tait and Louise Hooper, 99, who are nearing triple digits. (Hooper is a former phys-ed teacher who recommends staying active; she played golf until she was 90.)

Centenarians are becoming more and more common, according to Holly Tuokko, director of the University of Victoria’s Centre on Aging.

“There’s been huge growth in the number of people living past 100 and we anticipate there will continue to be growth,” Tuokko said.

Centenarians represented the second-fastest growing demographic group between 2006 and 2011, she said. The number of people over 100 grew by 25.7 per cent over that period. The cohort was behind only the 60-to-64 age group, which grew by 29 per cent.

Many factors in the past 40 years have contributed to that growth. Among them, education levels have increased, as has the quality and accessibility of health care.

But it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why particular individuals reach 100. While biology is part of it, social factors likely also play a role, Tuokko said.

“It’s very hard to study one factor in isolation, because even our genes are modified by our environment,” she said.

Statistically, women are more likely to reach 100 than men. By age 65, there are 125 women for every 100 men. By 80, that number has risen to 170 women per 100 men.

Worldwide, Canada is in the middle of the pack, with about 17.4 centenarians per 100,000 people. In Japan, that number is more than double, at 37 per 100,000. Russia lags at 3.8 per 100,000, she said.

Within Canada, British Columbia also lies near the middle. People tend to live longest in Saskatchewan and shortest in the northern territories. But there are also regional anomalies. In Parksville/Qualicum, for example, one in every two people is a senior, Tuokko said.

“So one would expect there are more centenarians where there are more older people,” Tuokko said.

Although “seniors” are often lumped together in a single group, it’s important to acknowledge generational differences.

“[Centenarians] were born in the midst of the First World War. They were teens and may have served in the Second World War. They lived through the Depression,” she said.

“So the influences are very different from the people currently turning 65, who are post-war baby boomers, grew up in an era where there was a lot more access to education [and] there were no world wars.”

The most senior residents at the James Bay Care Centre share those generational experiences. Tait was born in London during the First World War. Hooper said she lost two of her four brothers in the Second World War. They all nodded remembering historical milestones such as the first man on the moon.

But they also share cross-generational memories.

West still remembers her first kiss.

“The boy kissed me and got a nosebleed, he was so nervous,” she said.

asmart@timescolonist.com