Watch more: A lot has changed in 108 years and no one knows that more than a Saskatoon woman celebrating her birthday. Meaghan Craig introduces us to Anna Ens.
SASKATOON – Imagine the changes you would see if you were to live for over a century. Anna Ens of Saskatoon has been witness to just that, 108 years of historical milestones.
Born in 1907, Ens lives independently on the east side of Saskatoon with the assistance of home care. She was born the same year Saskatoon got its first bridge.
On her kitchen table sit birthday cards, well wishes to her as she celebrated her 108th birthday on Feb. 4 with a come and go tea planned for this Saturday.
“I don’t feel my age,” said Ens.
Born outside of Osler nearly 11 decades ago, Ens was raised on a farm and travelled by horse and buggy.
“Things were all very, very different, we girls had to milk cows, work on the garden and help where we could help,” remarked Ens. “It was wonderful, there was 10 of us in the family and kept busy working on the farm.”
So what’s Ens’ secret to living long? She says take the stairs and be happy.
“A wonderful thing is to be as happy as can be while you’re growing up, obey your parents and eat the right kind of food and live a good life.”
Having good genes doesn’t hurt either and enjoying the simple things in life.
“I love my breakfast. I love my toast and fruit and oh, I love my coffee.”
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Plus, lots of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren added Ens.
“They help me stay young.”
Helping to assist with the interview was Ens’ daughter Carolyn, a bubbly senior who helped breakdown the family structure.
“I just turned 84 so that’s that generation and the next generation would be my children and they are in their 50’s and then their children are in their 20’s and then the next generation are the little ones coming up, the oldest one is five,” said Carolyn Pierce.
A bit remarkable that a 84-year old can call her mom and read to her every night since Ens hearing and eyesight isn’t what it used to be.
“At 6:30 she knows the phone is going to ring and then I read to her for about half an hour or three-quarters of an hour and we’ve read so many books.”
Lovingly, her daughter describes her as slightly shy and the greatest mom in the world.
The only downside to living as long as Anna has is that she has outlived her husband by 28 years, two of her children as well as many friends.
“I have my faith that I lean on so it always give me new courage.” said Ens.
While it’s hard for Anna to pinpoint the biggest change she’s seen in her lifetime, advancements in technology have made life a lot easier.
“It’s rather mind boggling, I just can’t imagine how so much change happen in one person’s lifetime, she’s seen it all,” said Ruth Bitner, collections curator for the Western Development Museum.
“On the farm they were living in log shacks or tar paper shacks or in the south in sod shacks perhaps.”
According to Bitner, the winter of 1906-1907 was one of the worst with about 70 per cent of the cattle in southwestern Saskatchewan.
“Railway branch lines were being built all across the province, little towns were springing up every eight or nine miles, basically the distance a horse could travel in a day with a load of grain and it was a year before the Model-T was introduced if you can imagine.”
St. Paul’s Hospital opened in 1907 and the University of Saskatchewan Act was passed that same year. In 1916, women would be permitted to vote in the province.
“Lots of changes, the way we live, the housing we have, transportation, communication. I often think when we’re texting wouldn’t that have been wonderful if the people that had come to Saskatchewan around that time had been able to communicate like that because when they said good-bye to their families back in the old country they never saw them again or most often they didn’t,” said Bitner.
According to eHealth Saskatchewan, Ens isn’t the oldest senior in the province. There are 13 individuals older than her at this point residing in the province.
The patient health record system also indicates that there are 46 people that are 105-years-old or older in Saskatchewan.
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