Doris Burkholder - A Centenarian

By Robin Van Der Vleuten

Born in a farming community, outside Regina, Doris Burkholder was the youngest sibling and the only girl amongst four boys. Her parents moved the family to Ontario, when she was six, and bought a farm in Highland Creek. Doris attended Highland Creek Public School and then went to David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute.

During this time, she helped her parents on their grain farm and with household chores. She worked in her five-acre vegetable garden, where she grew raspberries and peas. “My dad and I would drive into the market in Toronto and sell them. I also froze the raspberries, to have them throughout the winter.”

Doris’ zest for life and laughter was evident, even at a young age. She had one best friend. “We were always into everything.” she laughed. “We did not have many dances, as we lived in the country, but we all played together. We played baseball for fun. I played all the positions. Life was good and simple back then.”

It was through her best friend, Doris met her husband Stan, whom she was married to for 50 years. He was working for her friend’s family at the time. After they got married, Doris and Stan built a home beside her parents and lived there until the late 1990s. To help her aging parents, they built their house next door. Doris stayed home to raise their only son, Ronald, but she also worked as a bookkeeper for her husband’s backhoe business.

She kept active, working in her garden, making quilts, and knitting herself sweaters. She would knit little jackets for anyone who had a baby.

Music was a big part of her life. She listened to music and sang in the church choir. “I enjoyed it, but I was not that good. I think I drove more people away from the church.” she laughed.

Doris used to have a passion for baking, especially raisin cookies and smiles as she recollects her love of sweets. “I always had chocolate Peak Frean cookies in the house but I got sugar diabetes and could not eat them. But I still sneaked some”.

Bowling and golf were other areas of interest for Doris. “I used to bowl in a women’s league, in the Rouge, as well as play golf. It was a par three golf course. I drove the cart, which was fun. I was not that good at it, but I enjoyed it.”

Today, Doris plays bingo and goes out to the courtyard garden. She likes to watch the birds, as her mom always had a canary. “My mom had them [canaries] in a cage where they would sing. She would raise canaries and sell them.”

Doris does crosswords and word searches, using her tablet, due to her declining eyesight. She reads different books, and was grinning as she said, “The only trouble is, what I read today, I will have forgotten by tomorrow and will have to start all over.” It does not prevent her from writing in her journal/diary with all kinds of information and things about her life experiences. Some entries were from May 1st, 2002, when there was a white frost. “That wasn’t too long ago, was it?” she asked.

At 101 years old, Doris still loves to laugh, tell jokes, and have fun. “I have a good sense of humour. Well, I get a lot of laughs anyway. I also like to walk six or eight times a day. I must remind myself to ‘pick up my feet, pick up my feet’. I then chase the staff down the hall on my walker. I need to keep them on their toes.”