Gordon Elliott has seen a lot, and in a recent interview with the Journal, he was able to drum up some recollections from way, way back.
“The winter of 19 and 20, that was a hard winter,” he said, searching for the distant memory. “That winter it came early and stayed on, a lot of cold weather. I remember my dad had quite a herd of cattle, and a lot of them died of lack of feed. You just couldn’t get it.”
Back in 1920, Elliott was a five-year-old youngster living in Ashmont, and though he was too young at the time to do much, he would soon start attending classes at the local school – an adventure that included a two-mile trek each way.
“We were well dressed, and we didn’t think anything of it. There were some kids walking three miles to that school,” he said. “If it was too cold, if it was 30 or 40 below, we didn’t go.”
Time, as it tends to do, continued to pass.
“I remember seeing soldiers in uniform for the First World War. I was so young that I didn’t realize what a war was,” he said. “When the Second World War started, the price of livestock picked up a bit, and times improved a lot. Before that, it was poverty living on a farm.”
The memories continued to flood back – recollections of his father passing in 1940, and of Gordon electing to take over the farm.
“You had to,” he said. “You couldn’t go out looking for a job. There were no jobs available.”
And of course memories of his wife, Mary, who passed away in 2013.
“She was a neighbour in Ashmont, the oldest in a family of 12,” he said. “We would have been married for 70 years.”
Gordon and his wife had eight children together – five girls and three boys – and their legacy now includes almost 50 total grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He has seen progress, and he has seen changes.
“It’s not like it used to be in the community. You used to know everybody, because everybody entertained amongst themselves,” he said. “Now, you don’t really know your next-door neighbour very well. There’s no exchange of work or anything like that, like it used to be.”
On Jan. 21 of this year, Gordon Elliott turned 100 years old. He still lives on his own, on a parcel of land he moved to in 1967 just outside of St. Paul – though one of his sons lives only a few feet away in the adjacent house.
A celebration was held at the Elks Hall in St. Paul on Jan. 24 in order to commemorate the milestone. Marcy Speers, youngest daughter to Gordon and Mary, was one of the many attendees at the event.
“It’s amazing, just looking around the room and seeing the number of people that dad has interacted with over the years,” she said from a crowded corner of the hall. “I had no idea that the room was going to be this full. But when you think about it, 100 years, you’re bound to have met a few people.”
Gordon has certainly provided his family and friends a successful model of health to strive for.
“It’s a motivational thing for sure. It motivates you to think about how he’s lived his life, and to try to emulate parts of that – to live a clean, simple life,” Marcy said. “He still gets outside every day. Throughout the fall he was still feeding steers. He still cooks for himself, and he’s a big Blue Jays fan. He never misses a Blue Jays game.”
Not only that, Gordon is in such good shape that he recently renewed his license to drive.
“I’m very fortunate to be 100 and still walking around, still driving,” he said. “I just passed my medical here about a week ago.”
So what’s the secret? How does one get to be 100 years old and still prove to be independent, mentally sharp and healthy?
“I never had a weight problem, and I worked all the time. I never had an office job where I would sit all day – I was active,” he said. “Also, I was always too darn poor to abuse myself.”
