​Evelyn Elliott of Ripley celebrates her 100th birthday

Evelyn Elliott (above) says she’s not sure how she’s supposed to feel at the age of 100.

“I’ve never been this old before,” she says, with a laugh. “I never dreamt I would live this long.”

A resident of Trillium Court Seniors' Community in Kincardine, and formerly of Rosewood RVilla Retirement Living in Ripley, she credits her longevity to the support of family and friends and a sense of community. She enjoys visits and phone calls, and is particularly pleased to return to the big family gatherings that were curtailed during the pandemic.

Born Evelyn Pollock, Feb. 8, 1924, on the first farm west of Pine River, she went to high school in Kincardine and boarded there in the winter.

She travelled by train to Stratford and graduated from Normal School (teacher’s college) in 1944. She taught in a one-room school for one year before she married Jack Elliott, May 18, 1946, in the same house where she was born.

They raised six daughters and one son there before moving down the road in 1980, and lived on that farm until they moved to RVilla in Ripley in 2004.

Evelyn’s pride and joy are her 19 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren.

Her advice to others who want to live a long, healthy life, is to have a sense of humour, eat right, work hard, be grateful for what you have, and BE KIND because what goes around, comes around.