Beer and some whiskey key to long life, jokes Van Daele resident

Isabella McKinnon will mark a significant milestone when she celebrates her birthday Saturday.

When asked by SooToday how old she’ll be, Isabella promptly replied “thirty-five!”

Isabella will, in fact, turn 103 Saturday, Sept. 14, to be joined for a birthday cake and ice cream by family, friends and staff at Extendicare Van Daele Manor.

Isabella, from a family of 12, was born in Thessalon, where she lived most of her life before moving to Van Daele in Feb. 2015.

Over the course of her life, she said she has witnessed the changes from horse and buggy days to automobiles.

Still active, Isabella enjoys helping Van Daele staff fold laundry.

Isabella worked as a hotel room cleaner until the age of 74.

“The only reason she quit working was the hotel where she worked burned down. If it wasn’t for that she would’ve worked until she was 90,” her daughter Laurie Grenier told us in jest.

We asked Isabella if she has a secret to her longevity.

“Beer. And a little bit of whiskey and hard work,” joked the twice-married mother of four, grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of 15, sporting a T-shirt with the message ‘Look at me, I’m 103.’