A Barrhaven resident celebrated a milestone birthday on Thursday afternoon, turning 107 years old. Marion Anderson was surrounded by loved ones as she rang in her special day. “Well, I hadn’t planned for such a tremendous crowd to be here,” said Anderson. “I thought we’d just get through it, like every other day.” Anderson was born in 1918. In 1940, she travelled to Ottawa to become a hairdresser and later met her husband. Together they had three boys and raised their family in Westboro and the Carlingwood area. She says her favourite moments in her life were growing up, having friends and having fun. Anderson also credits her skincare routine for the reason she doesn’t look her age. “You don’t put so much soap on your face,” said Anderson. “It makes wrinkles.” At her birthday party, she was surrounded by her children, grandchildren, family, and friends. “I think, like she said, maybe just living a simple life, not getting too ahead of yourself,” said Ian Anderson, Marion’s grandson, when asked about her secret to aging well. “A little sherry every day probably helps as well, but I think just living a good life.” Anderson has also lived through significant moments in history. “Oh well, of course I remember the wars,” she said. “One finished and then another one started, and I remember I was quite able to understand everything about the Second World War. I was a young woman then, a teenager. That was not a happy time.” Throughout her life, Anderson loved camping, travelling, working as a hairdresser, and spending time with her family. She was a talented quilt maker and in the 1990s, she won best quilt of the show at the Carp Fair. “I went to different fairs, places to be seen,” she said. “It was a little bit above special. I made literally hundreds of quilts and I made them for the babies at the hospital and all that sort of thing.”
