Living a simple life suits a Black Diamond woman just fine.
Living a simple life suits a Black Diamond woman just fine.
Whether it's visiting with family, watching her favourite soap operas, doing a crossword puzzle or watching activity out the front window of her bungalow, Erma Brown enjoys the simple pleasures that have kept her going for more than a century.
“An awful lot of your health is mental,” she said. “You have to have an attitude that brings out the best of everything that happens rather than the worst in everything that happens.”
Brown celebrated her 103rd birthday in her cozy bungalow in Black Diamond's north end on July 17, surrounded by family.
“I wouldn't be much of anything without a family,” she said. “My family is what keeps me going. I married a second time and I have that family, too.”
Despite having surpassed a century, little slows down the independent senior.
While she gets some help from home care and a housekeeper, Brown does a lot on her own and gets around the house using a walker.
She attributes her long life to many things including a positive attitude, healthy lifestyle, her faith in God and a strong family unit that includes two brothers, two children, five grandchildren, nine great grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Brown keeps her mind active by watching the news to keep up on current events, playing computer games and emailing friends and family.
“I'm on my computer every day,” she said. “I do these things to not only amuse myself but to keep my brain and that part of me alive.”
One of the things Brown misses doing most is strolling through Black Diamond.
“I did a lot of walking,” she said. “I can't do much in the way of exercise now. I can wave my arms around and wiggle around and walk as much as I can. I used to wander around a little bit outside but the kids got after me about doing it by myself.”
Brown's life, even a century later, is not without its surprises.
Earlier this year, a recreation area and green space south of the Oilfields Regional Arena was named Erma Joy Brown Park in her honour and two years ago a thief broke into her bedroom and stole precious jewelry while she was watching TV in her living room.
Brown had moved to Black Diamond with her family in 1929 when she was 15 years old. Her family lived in a tent the first winter.
She recalls spending the first two years of high school in the basement of a church before the Black Diamond School, a four-room schoolhouse, was built in 1941.
Brown got married at age 19 and when her oldest child was 16 her husband died of a stroke.
“Suddenly you are responsible for doing all these things,” she said. “I just faced it.”
Brown entered the work force and spent 20 years working administration for the Town of Black Diamond and served on numerous committees and assisted with various projects.
She was involved with the Community Association, Griffiths Senior Centre, municipal library and War Workers, and played a significant role in building the High Country Lodge and Glen Mead Lodge at the Oilfields General Hospital.
Brown helped bring the iconic diamond monument in front of the municipal building to the community after seeing an advertisement for the sale of a large metal diamond in The Calgary Herald.
In 1976, Brown received the Centennial Medal for Citizen of the Year.
Impressed with Brown's independent life is Tracy Brunt, franchise owner of Heart to Home Meals in Calgary, which has been delivering meals to Brown since May.
Brunt said Brown is her oldest customer.
“She is bright and charming,” Brunt said of Brown. “She is a lovely person.”
When Brown signed up with Heart to Home Meals last spring, Brunt was surprised when Brown told her she would register online.
“We were giving her options for ordering and she said, “Don't worry about that, I'll do it online,'” she said. “That was remarkable. Many of our customers order online, but that older demographic tends to be less comfortable with it.”
Heart to Home Meals, which makes 100 meal deliveries primarily to seniors in Calgary and surrounding communities, delivered a birthday cake to Brown during Seniors Week in May.
“On Seniors Week we acknowledged her as our most senior senior,” she said. “We made her day.”
