Oldest living Manitoba-born person dies at 111
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Winnipeg Free Press subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $4.99 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2014 (4061 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WINNIPEG — Lorna Best never missed a Toronto Blue Jays game on TV. Or the Brier, for that matter. She loved the curling.
She sent out Christmas cards every year, paid her bills and “kept in touch with a million people,” according to her son, Warren.
On Friday, the oldest living person born in Manitoba passed away 111 years and 28 days after she was born in Gilbert Plains on July 4, 1903.
“She did pretty good,” said Warren, 78. “She didn’t get into the hospital hardly at all. She hated the hospital.”
Best suffered a stroke in June. On July 4, her 111th birthday, she was admitted into a nursing home in Victoria, where she has lived since 1981.
In February, Best — then 110 years, 212 days old — became the oldest person born in Manitoba when she surpassed Mary Ann Scoles on the longevity list. Scoles died on July 23, 2007, at the age of 110 years and 210 days.
At the time, Best — a grandmother of six, great grandmother of 11 and great, great grandmother of two — was unimpressed by her longevity status.
“It’s nothing special,” she said. “It’s just another day.”
Best was born in the family home in Gilbert Plains, the first of five children of Charles and Edra Warren, who had emigrated from England to pioneer a farm near Dauphin. She was married to husband Gilbert in 1928. Gilbert died at age 66 and is buried in Gilbert Plains. Best eventually moved to Victoria to be closer to her two children — Warren and Shirley Evans.
Warren said his mother was reluctant to celebrate a birthday, much less discuss her longevity.
“She wasn’t one that was looking for a lot of notoriety,” he said. “She never really talked about her age.”
But Lorna Best wasn’t without stories. Her mother died from tuberculosis just days after Best was born. One of her siblings, a boy, died of Spanish flu in 1919. She lived through two world wars, the moon landing, and the relative adolescence of her native country.
In her later years, Best was a loyal Blue Jays fan who rarely missed a televised game. In fact, the team sent her a hat and baseball three years ago after being notified of her fandom.
Being born in Manitoba, Best never shook the curling bug, either. She was a particular fan of Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton.
“She lived for curling on TV,” Warren said.
» Winnipeg Free Press