~Photo courtesy of the Medicine Hat News, on Cora's 108th Birthday in 2007~Our long time family friend turned 110 on March 25! Mrs Cora Hansen has seen more changes than any of us could even begin to imagine. Can you imagine being 110 years old? She was born in 1899. She was already 15 when WW1 broke out, she remembers everything. She is from a family that immigrated to Canada from Norway, good strong stock apparently lol.
I met her when I was 7 years old and moved to a tiny town in Southern Alberta. She lived at the top of a hill and walked each and every day to the store, until she was 95. Unbelievable! My memories of her from over a decade ago, when she was in her late 90s, are things like her slapping my hands away if I tried to help clear the tea cups and cookie trays from her table lol. She is a devout Christian and lived a very simple life, yet a much more difficult life than most of us have ever had to deal with. Tomorrow is her Birthday Tea and I hope that everyone who has ever come in contact with her stops by to share in this wonderful event. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since she received a special message from the Prime Minister, congratulating her on her 100th birthday. She is a true testament to strength, endurance, health, faith, and super-duper gentics lol.
Happy Birthday Mrs Hansen! You are amazing!
_____
2010 Update
An update for those who arrive at this blog from wiki and other supercentarian sites,,, Mrs Hansen turned 111 yesterday (March 25). I believe she is now officially the oldest person known to be living in Alberta, Canada. There was a bit in our local Medicine Hat News about it yesterday, but I have not been able to find it online :( If I manage to get hold of it, I will scan it and post it here....
Link to my updated post
March 2011 Update: Okay and now here we are again for Mrs Hansen's 112th birthday!! There will apparently be a story running in tomorrow's Medicine Hat News (March 26 2011) but for now, here is a link to my most recent post:: CLICK HERE!
Updated story:
Click to enlarge. From the Medicine Hat News, March 26, 2011 edition.
March 2011 Update: Okay and now here we are again for Mrs Hansen's 112th birthday!! There will apparently be a story running in tomorrow's Medicine Hat News (March 26 2011) but for now, here is a link to my most recent post:: CLICK HERE!
Updated story:
any idea what year she arrived in canada from norway? I am studying immigration from norway to southern alberta in the 20s and 30s...
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I do not know that info. I was so young when she told me her family story, I don't remember the details now. Some people said she was born in Canada but I recall that she and her husband moved over here from Norway. The only family I know of her having her are her daughter, son in law, and their children/grandchildren. I don't know of any brothers or sisters of herself or her husband (I believe his name was Richard) so I believe she must have come over from Norway as an adult.
ReplyDeleteDear Kez,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting info about Mrs Cora Hanson's 110th anniversary
If her age can be verified, she is an obvious candidate for the list of world's supercentenarians - people that reaches 110 years
website : http://grg.org/Adams/E.HTM
If her country of birth is known (either Canada or Norway), its possible to trace her in old census lists, church books, emigrant protocols etc to have her age verified
Where was her husband, Mr Richard Hansen born ? Whats his date of birth ? Are there any cemetary recordings available from Medicine Hat on internet ?
What do Canadian census records say about Hansen family ?
Celvin
I have a copy of today's Medicine Hat News to scan, if my scanner will eventually wake up and cooperate! It says she was born in Minnesota and was one of 10 children, her parents having emmigrated from Norway, and that she and the family moved to alberta in 1912. Cora has been either here or in Saskatchewan ever since. Hope that helps anyone trying to track down more articles. I know nothing about Mr Hansen, I am afraid, and the article did not post her maiden name. Mr Hansen passed away sometime in the 60s if I remember right, all I know is that he had already passed away when I first met Mrs Hansen in 1980.
ReplyDeleteHi.
ReplyDeleteCoras parents emigrated from Norway in 1882
Thank you :) I had not seen that info released by her daughter yet. According to the news recently, Mrs Hansen is now thought to be the oldest living woman in Canada (or perhaps person, I'm not sure). I really need to go visit her. I would love for my two youngest children to meet her but her daughter said she is in bed a lot now. I havent seen her for several years now, maybe almost 10 years :( so I dont know if she would remember me or not. I thought I might take along the photo of her with me, my mom, my oldest son, and her :)
ReplyDelete