POULSBO — Want to live to be 100? Eat your veggies. That’s the advice from Ada Robertson, and she should know. The Poulsbo resident gathered in the company of family and friends at the Liberty Bay Presbyterian Church on Feb. 2 to celebrate her 100th birthday.
On Jan. 31, 1908, Robertson was born in a house her father built in Boissevain, Canada. It was the first house to have indoor plumbing and be built of bricks in the province of Manitoba.
In 100 years, her many adventures have given Robertson quite the story to tell.
At 16, she earned scholarships and attended the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied arts in Vancouver, 60 miles from her Sardis, British Columbia home. She graduated in 1929 and worked as a commercial artist for about six months, until the stock market crash ended her career.
She married John “Jack” Borden Robertson on April 27, 1935. The couple celebrated 61 years together before he died in 1996.
Some interesting moments in her life include having her tonsils removed while she was on the kitchen table, using a hand-cranked phone and getting around by horse and buggy, although “some people did have automobiles then.”
Although she vividly remembers the difficulties suffered during The Depression, she said her most impressive memory over the course of her lifetime is when man walked on the moon.
The family put together a timeline that incorporated some of Robertson’s artwork to commemorate the special events in Robertson’s life. She also received a silver bracelet, a lot of cards and good wishes for her birthday. The celebration became a community event when the word got out, said daughter Judith Robertson of Bremerton. At her hairdressing appointment, the centenarian was greeted with birthday cake, song and a complimentary style. A local bakery donated her birthday cake.
Robertson celebrated her centenarian status with her three children: Judith Robertson, Ellen Lockard and son-in-law Bill of Poulsbo; and Jim Robertson of Springfield, Ore. In addition, Robertson has 15 grandchildren: Emma Lockard, Quinn and Jack White; Eli and Hattie Lockard; Bradley and Erin Akroyd; Gabriel, Jesse, Rhys and Oceana Williams, Nevada Meyers, and Blake and Kyler Robertson. Her 15th grandchild, Swift Williams, arrived three days after Robertson’s birthday party.
The party drew family from far and wide, among them niece Duana and her husband, Fred Neveauz came from Victoria, B.C.; nephew Delmar and wife Helen Currie from Abbotsford, B.C.; and grand-niece Mary Lou Parks and husband Jim came from Kent.
Her advice for a long, fruitful life is to “live and let live,” and “eat your veggies.”
