Happy Birthday! Madge is turning 106 (2 photos)

“I’ve enjoyed life.”

That from the Sault’s Madge Hill, who will turn 106 Monday Nov. 4.

She will be joined by family and friends at a birthday party to be held Saturday at Pathways Retirement Residence, where she has resided for the past 18 months.

What’s the secret to Madge’s longevity?

“I kept active,” said Madge, who rode a horse at 99, and enjoyed ice fishing at 100.

“I fished, I hunted, rode snowmachines, I was outdoors a lot. My husband got me a snowmachine and we enjoyed ice fishing,” she said, speaking to SooToday.

These days, Madge enjoys frequent visits from her family, also being an avid reader, a lover of TV’s Stingray easy listening music channel and a fan of word search puzzles.

Music, including hymns such as In The Garden, inspire and comfort Madge, in the same way those spiritual songs have for so many others.

“I’ve made quite a few friends. In the time I’ve been here (at Pathways) I’ve done pretty good at making friends. They’re all friendly,” Madge said, looking forward to Saturday’s birthday party.

“She loves her family. We’re proud of her,” said son Layne Hill.

“She’s a lady. Loyal, loving, generous, kind-hearted...I think having a big family keeps her going. I think if we can live as good a life as her, it’ll be great,” said daughter Llona Sandie.

A kind lady indeed.

Madge greeted SooToday at Pathways Thursday with bright eyes, a warm smile and handshake. 

Born Madge Evoy in Sylvan Valley in 1913, she resided for several years in Bar River before eventually moving to the Sault.

She is the second of 12 children.

“I was raised on a farm in Bar River. My older brother died in his 40s so I was considered the oldest. I milked cows and picked berries and that sort of thing to help my mother (while her father worked the farm) because she had a big family. I was like a second mother,” Madge said.

Madge was educated at a one room schoolhouse in Bar River and attended the United Church.

“My school days were very good but we walked a mile to school,” Madge said, also saying school in those days consisted of the good old fashioned ‘three Rs,’ being reading, writing and arithmetic.

“I played a lot of baseball,” Madge smiled as she remembered her childhood recreational activities.

She finished school in Grade 10 in order to help her mother at home before she met that special man (Dalbert Hill) who eventually became her husband.

“There was a group that came down to Bar River to work at the saw mill. He was one of the group. We had a lot of parties at the hall, and I met him at one of the dances and it carried on from there,” Madge said.

The couple married in 1938, having a long-distance relationship at first.

“He would go back to work in town and he’d come down on the weekend, or I’d go to town and meet him,” Madge said.

“He parked at Echo Bay because our roads weren’t open to cars and he’d walk down the track to meet me. That was hard but it was worth it. We had a good marriage.”

The couple moved to the Sault, residing in the city’s west end, Dalbert (now deceased) an Algoma Steel employee.

Madge and Dalbert had two children, daughter Llona and son Layne, now retired and living in the Sault.

Madge has nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

“I’m very proud of my family,” she said.

Apart from being a hard-working stay-at-home mom back in the day, Madge also cleaned homes for others.

In her long life, Madge has, of course, seen a lot of changes, including modes of transportation.

“One time (before owning a car) we travelled to Sault Ste. Marie in a horse and buggy to see a show,” she said, legendary song and dance actors Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire among her favourite performers.

“I enjoyed dancing very much. I did a lot of dancing, and enjoyed country music,” Madge said.

In our 21st century, we don’t go anywhere without our cell phones, so Madge has witnessed a huge change in how we communicate.

Madge, at one time, used a crank telephone in her home, but is now equipped with a touch tone keypad phone in her Pathways apartment.

Having cleaned homes, Madge said the biggest change she’s enjoyed is the washing machine.

“No more washboards. Laundry was a big job,” she smiled.

A longtime Sault resident, Madge said she has seen the city’s growth over the years.

“It was much smaller. Slower too,” Madge recalling the days before the completion of the Trans-Canada highway in 1971.

Madge has visited England, Scotland and the U.S., but without hesitation said the Sault is her “favourite place.”