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Publication: Yarmouth County Vanguard, The add link
Issue: 12 February 2015
Title: Yarmouth resident celebrates her 104th birthday
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Yarmouth resident celebrates her 104th birthday

TinaTina Comeau Published on February 12, 2015

YARMOUTH ? Yarmouth resident Eva Robicheau doesn?t have any magically answer when asked about her secret for longevity.

But she?s obviously done many things right because she celebrated her 104th birthday on Feb. 12.

Looking at her you?d never believe she?s this old. Even Eva herself can?t quite believe it.

?I just wonder how I?ve kept up so long?? she says. ?One of the nurses asked me yesterday what I attributed this to and I said, ?I can?t say too much, except that I tried to live right.??

Born on Feb. 12, 1911, in Yarmouth, Eva, who now lives at The Meadows, has witnessed events, seen changes and experienced moments in life that many ? if not most ? of us never have.

She?s lived through two World Wars and the Great Depression. She?s watched the landscape of Yarmouth change. Today people talk about the Nova Star ferry service, but Eva lived in the days that the Yarmouth Steamship Co. Ltd. travelled between Yarmouth and Boston.

?I lived up by the Grand Hotel,? she says. ?I used to run around when they were building it.?

She couldn?t be beat when it came to a school spelling bee, she loved to make preserves ? she preserved everything in sight, her family jokes ? and Danielle Steele books were a favourite in her downtime.

She?s seen many advancements in technology that she couldn?t ? as a young girl and then as a young woman ? have ever envisioned. Forget smart phones and flat screen TVs. In the Robicheau household it was an exciting day when Eva and her husband Frank were finally able to purchase a washing machine and put Eva?s scrub board to rest.

Still, even her children have fond memories of that scrub board.

?She used to scrub on a scrub board and sing songs, she was a great singer,? her daughter Kay Wight says, while also fondly remembering the stories her mother would share with them when they were kids.

?I used to make up a story every night when I?d be doing my ironing,? remembers Eva. ?They?d be sitting all around listening to me.?

Eva and her husband had three children. She jokes about being asked recently by a woman about how old her children are.

Asked about her greatest accomplishments in life, Eva says it was working as a supervisor at the hospital in the dietician/food department for 23 years, and, of course, raising her family. She takes amazing pride in both.

Eva?s husband Frank died in 1998. Up until two years ago she was living in an apartment at Trinity Place. She?s a bit hard of hearing and her legs give her problems, but other than that she?s fine.

Even at the age of 98, her son George remembers her going to the weekly lunches at the Knights of Columbus, and jumping to her feet with a wave when a familiar face came through the door.

She?s still got her sharp wit and her sense of humour, and she holds the title of being the oldest person at The Meadows.

She?s likely the oldest person living in Yarmouth at this time too. Calls made by this newspaper to several seniors facilities came up with no one older.

As for how she celebrated her 104th birthday, the evening was being spent with family and friends at a local restaurant and then back at The Meadows for some more festivities.

Asked if there is anything in life she would have liked to have done but never got the chance to do, being a nurse tops her list.

Other than that it?s been a good life.

And a long one that is still ongoing.

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