Soft-spoken, with a great sense of humor. and a sharp memory, Evelyn Duff McCredie spoke with gusto as she recalled moments from her life. On Feb. 6 she turned 100 years old, a major milestone. Slightly hard of hearing, but in great health nonetheless she smiled and laughed as she recalled memories from her youth.

She could recall conversations with so much . . .

colour, but remembering numbers and dates was not her strength. She laughed when asked when a particular event happened and chuckled “I don’t really remember.”

After graduating high school McCredie went on to do some training at Grace Hospital in Ottawa to become a nurse. McCredie worked at the Hospital during WWII. “I delivered babies when the war was on,” she said and was about 20 years old at the time. “It was hard, and we did a lot of overtime.”

She pointed to a photo when she was dressed in her nurse uniform, a young McCredie, graduated, in the early 1940s. She was a petite woman and weighed almost 100 pounds. Doctors at the hospital would mistake her for their granddaughters, she said.

During her time working in Ottawa, she mentioned there were navy buildings there at the time, and if you walked outside the hospital you could see the planes fly by. One time, on a hot summer day McCredie and some other nurse friends were at Britannia beach and sirens went off–during the war it meant you had to get home.

As they were leaving the beach, trying to find a way back, someone spotted them and knew they worked at the hospital and offered them a ride. “We got back in time to go on duty,” she said.

After some time in Ottawa, she moved back to the Pontiac. She worked at the Shawville hospital for some time and said, “the doctors would call us by our first name because they had delivered us.” The hospital was the size of a house when she started working there, she noted.

As a teenager, she worked summers at Pine Lodge when she was about 16 or 17 and while working there, met a distant relative who was visiting from Scotland. McCredie talked about her Scottish descent and how that summer a woman came looking for anyone from the “Duff” family.

Lou Dewar, a distant relative, would visit during her holidays, but always went back because she had to take care of her ill mother. But McCredie was fond of Lou, “she was a smart old lady,” she said.

McCredie was born and raised in Maryland, present-day Bristol, and the home she grew up in currently belongs to her niece, Jane Duff McDougall.

Growing up she lived on a 200-acre farm with her family.

She explained that her mother was a school teacher and her father was a quiet man, but noted that he spoiled her and taught her how to ride a horse. She had an older sister Margaret and a younger brother Donald, who she recalled, ”turned into an awfully good farmer.”

McCredie pointed out she sang in the Catholic Church, and she played the clarinet. She loved to ride horses but admitted, she wasn’t very good at it McCredie spoke honestly.

She met her husband Ronald McCredie while working at the Shawville hospital. Ronald (Ronnie she called him) was visiting his friend who was getting his appendix removed and introduced them to each other.

Her husband owned a garage, she noted. “my husband was a man who loved to play golf and was good at it.” She played with him but frankly said, “I wasn’t very good, but the only thing I could do was putt.”

They got married in 1951, she was about 29 years old and he was 25, they were married for 53 years. “I had a very good life, I was happy. And I know I was older than Ronnie, but you know we got along beautifully, and he was so good to me,” she said.

She explained that whenever he would travel he would always come back with gifts for her. One, in particular, was a white hat with daisies and roses on it. She said it was great to play golf in. “All the girls wanted a hat like that, but they couldn’t find one like it, because it was from the states,” she said with a bright smile.

She and her husband only had one child, who didn’t make it past birth, and they haven’t had any other children. Not having her own kids, she was always looking out for the neighbour’s kids, they would always come and play in her backyard, she pointed out.

McCredie is one of the only living Duffs, both her parents and her two siblings passed away a few years ago. Her husband died at the age of 78. She has a few nieces and nephews living but that’s about it.

Currently, McCredie enjoys spending her time playing bingo, doing crafts and chatting with her friends. She currently resides at Les Ami(e)s du Manoir St-Joseph, which she praises for having such kind staff. McCredie pointed out the home serves the best pastries, she said, “the girls in the kitchen must be farmer’s wives because they’re such great cooks.”

When asked what she was looking forward to on her birthday she said, “just a good time for everybody.”

Her secret to longevity, McCredie responded with, “Just try to be happy, I have no regrets.”

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