Four Saskatchewan sisters, all over the age of 90, remain a tight-knit bunch even after a century.
Polly Eberle was born in 1926 in Montmartre, Sask., approximately 80 kilometres from Regina. She grew up with four sisters and two brothers.
When branching off to build families of their own, the siblings stayed close to one another as they farmed in the Kendal and Fillmore areas.
Now, Eberle is celebrating her 100th birthday next to three of those siblings — who are all over the age of 90.
“I’ll dance. I can’t see very good, otherwise I’m 100 (years) perfectly,” Eberle said, referring to not feeling her age.
Her three sisters, Katherine (Babe) Weichel, 93, Evelyn Leas, 95, and Betty Ripplinger, 97, also share the same sentiment.
“We feel old because my sister’s old,” Weichel, the baby sister of the group, said smiling.
When asked what it was like growing up with her sisters, Eberle said it was bittersweet.
“Sometimes we had some pretty good fights, but it was not so bad,” she said with a big smile.
Secret to a long life
The Keller family — Eberle’s maiden name — has now extended to five generations, expanding to hundreds of nieces, nephews and cousins.
Although all women from the family were married, the four have all outlived their husbands.
“They are all my aunts. They are all there, all except for my mother,” said Gerry Knoll, Eberle’s great-nephew, who credits his relatives’ good health to their love of dancing.
“I think they’ve done a whole lot of dancing when they were younger,” Knoll said joyously. “They wouldn’t miss a dance and had to play instruments. I think they could still dance if you hold them a little bit.”
His daughter, however, said she was told the secret to a long-life was something else.
“Aunt Polly told me it was a shot of whiskey in the evening,” said Eberle’s great-niece, Martine Stillwell.
Growing up, Stillwell said she witnessed how close her great-aunts were with one another. Despite living in different communities in the province now, she has seen how much of an effort they still make to stay in touch.
“We’ve always been a close family, so seeing them, even at the age that they’re in and being in (care) homes, they still go and visit each other,” she said.
“My dad will pick up Aunt Polly and take her to Weyburn to go and visit Aunt Evelyn. Then they’ll go and stop by to see Aunt Babe to get together.”
Stillwell said she wonders if the healthy genes will continue to run for generations to come.
“They were a family of seven, which is crazy that there’s still four of them in their 90s. Unbelievable,” she said.
“It’s sad that their two brothers are gone and their older sister, who was my grandmother, is gone, but I look at my dad now and I keep thinking, jeez, does he have those genes in him? Because I would like him to live to be 100 or older, too.”
Stillwell added that any opportunity to get together with the family will be cherished.
