ATHABASCA – A former teacher from the Colinton area is set to celebrate her 104th birthday March 31 in her home at the Pleasant Valley Lodge.
Edith Mae Bishell, now known as Edith Mae Smiley, was born in 1916 and grew up in the community of Loyalist.
Her 68-year-old daughter Ann Huff said her father had owned some land up in that area.
“She eventually married a Jim Smiley, and they had two children, myself and my older sister Laura Mae,” Huff said. “Both my father and my sister have both passed away, but my mother is still going strong.”
She mentioned that her mother taught for a couple of years at a one-room school house in the community of Monitor before deciding that she didn’t like doing it.
“My father was a truck driver for the Colinton General Store,” Huff continued. “My mother was a housewife and a substitute teacher during their long and happy marriage.”
She added that she takes part in all the physical activities at the Pleasant Valley Lodge.
“She wins first in everything. She’s quite the competitor in everything she takes part in,” Huff said.
Smiley was the oldest competitor to take part in the Fifth Annual Muskeg Creek Run and Walk that took place June 15 at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex.
She stated at the time that one sure way to live a long and healthy life is to stay active.
“I have taken part in the race for all five years,” Smiley said. “I do not remember ever missing any type of event like this that the community puts on.”
Huff also recalled that her mother used to babysit the children of her fellow teacher in the area, as well as the three children of her sister.
“She had a total of seven grandchildren and several great-grandchildren,” she continued. “My mother was also active with the Colinton Senior’s Club and with St. Andrew’s Anglican Church.”
Joyce Wilson, a friend of Smiley’s from Perryvale, said she first got to know her from the church.
“She was a wonderful lady. She brought homemade cookies to the church every Sunday for an after-service snack,” Wilson said. “Up until she was 90-years-old, she would go up to Extendicare and she would read to the old people there even though most of them were younger than there. She did that for many years.”
She added that she was also driving a car well into her 90s.
“(Edith) first started driving in her 60s after her husband passed away,” Wilson said. “Before this, her husband always drove her around.”
Smiley’s 59-year-old granddaughter Heather Greenburgh from Beausejour, Man. said her grandmother pretty much raised her and her sister.
“My mother was often away at work, so my grandmother took care of us,” Greenburgh said. “Every summer, spring break or holiday was with grandma until I was 18 years old. Even today, my grandmother and I remain very close. In fact, every time my sister and I come up to Colinton, everybody who still remembers us know us as the Smiley girls.”
She also remarked that Huff, her aunt, still lives in Colinton.
“I was actually closer to my aunt in age than my mother was,” Greenburgh stated. “There was a 10-year age gap between my mother and my aunt, and there’s just an eight-year gap between my aunt and myself.”
Greenburgh said she remembers her grandmother as having a plentiful garden and a full pantry.
“She always made sure we were fed and washed,” she continued. “We always had to bring in a fresh pile of wood for the fire or some fresh water from the well. We also had specific times to eat, with supper being at 6 p.m. If we were ever late, we did not eat. That only happened to be once, and she never let me ever forget that.”
Her 91-year-old sister, Joyce Knutson of Consort, said her memories about her sister growing up are quite limited.
“There is a 14-year age gap between us, so she wasn’t really home all that much when I was growing up,” Knutson stated. “When I was a child, my parents, my younger sister and I would pay her a visit where she taught school.”
But once they grew up, she said she still remains in contact with her from time to time.
“She’s certainly doing better than I would at that age,” Knutson said. “I have attended her birthday for the past couple of years, but I won’t be coming up this year with all that’s been going in (with the coronavirus).”
She added she also started painting classes at the Pleasant Valley Lodge at the age of 100.
“I still have a picture she did on the wall (in my house),” Knutson explained. “She’s painted several pictures over the years, and she never painted before in her life before she moved into the lodge.”
