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Orangeville women celebrates 105th birthday at Bethsaida Retirement Home

August 3, 2023   ·   1 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

When Orangeville resident Doris Watson was born, the First World War was just winding down.

Over a century later, Doris is doing fine. She’s charming and witty, has a good sense of humour, and easily recalls events from her life that happened decades ago.

She celebrated her 105th birthday with family and friends at the Bethsaida Retirement Home in Orangeville on July 26, where she has been living for just over a year.

Prior to that, she still lived in her own home that she and her husband Jack built when he returned from serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.

Doris was born in 1918 in Wales and came across the Atlantic with her parents when she was just a baby. Her father quickly found employment in a coal mine in Nova Scotia.

When the mine closed, her father went to Toronto to look for new work. The family eventually settled in Guelph and started farming.

The kids all got jobs and contributed to the household.

“I was a year and a-half old when I came here with my parents,” Doris said. “I remember being on the boat. We travelled to England to get on the boat to come to Canada – we landed in Halifax. My dad worked in the coal mines. We were there until I was going on six, and they went on strike. My dad had six kids so he couldn’t stay there, he to go find a job. He came to Guelph and we’ve been there ever since.”

When she got older, she and the rest of her siblings all found jobs.

“I worked at a spinning mill,” Doris explained. “I had to walk all the way to work.”

Doris married her husband Jack when she was 23, but they didn’t see much of each other for the first few years.

“He went to war when the war started in the navy. It was difficult because we weren’t long married. He was gone for three years altogether, but he was back and forth. When they were at the dock, he would try to get home for a day or two. It was about three years before it was all over. He got shot when he was in India. They were all drinking in a bar, and they made him go back to the ship, and he spent time in the hospital,” she said, laughing at the fact that being shot wasn’t really a part of the war. 

However, Jack survived the war after being torpedoed while on his ship, not once, but twice. He swam to shore on his own after the one attack.

Doris enjoyed her time living in Guelph. She had her own car and liked to get around, do things, and visit people.

“I drove a car all the time – I could go wherever I want. I could still be driving, but I gave it up. I was driving up until the time I was going on 100. I could have stayed driving. When they checked my eyes, they said, ‘there’s nothing wrong with your eyes,’ you can drive as far as you can go.”

Doris has one son, Jack, three grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Her family has great things to say about Bethsaida Retirement Home and appreciates how well they look after their residents.

Doris enjoys living at the Retirement Home and is a favourite among staff there.

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