Eight children, 27 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren and 21 great-great grandchildren are all the legacy of one Westlock woman.
Nearly 150 direct descendants of Gertie Provencal gathered at Memorial Hall April 27 to celebrate the 100th birthday of their matriarch.
“I’ve had a good life and I’m happy to see all the children here,” she said, adding she was touched by the sentiment of the family gathering in her honour.
On April 27, 1919, Provencal was born in Edison, just east of what would become Westlock several decades later, and was schooled at the convent in Morinville.
“I’m not new to Westlock,” she said.
Provencal eventually moved to Vimy, where she met her husband and raised their eight children and moved to Westlock in 1975.
Outside of raising children, Provencal drove the school bus for more than 30 years in the area, a responsibility she shared with her husband. She was married for 63 years before her husband passed in 1999.
Provencal said she not sure there’s any secret to her long life.
“I had a happy marriage, you can have your little blow-ups sometimes, but don’t ever go to bed mad,” she said.
She enjoys playing the organ and played in her church for 50 years. Sometimes she is known to belt out a tune at her home at Smithfield Lodge, where she has been a resident for 14 years.
She learned to play the piano when she was 14, so the organ was a natural progression of her talent. The whole family is very musical, she said.
“When I came here, I was asked if I was going to play music. I said ‘No I’m going to keep quiet’ and two weeks after that I was back on the organ,” she said.
