Mary & Jim have a special bond
WSpecial to The Herald
hen Mary Evenson was born in Manitoba in the summer of 1918, the Spanish flu was just beginning its deadly march around the world.
Amazingly, as Mary prepares to celebrate her 102nd birthday here in Penticton, another pandemic has blanketed the globe.
It’s a remarkable and ironic situation for a lady who has embraced a rich life, full of fun and adventure.
Even more remarkable is Mary’s optimism, humour, and enjoyment of life even while she endures pandemic isolation. Faced with a significant hearing loss and diminished vision, Mary still loves to chat, share stories and laugh at good jokes, even her own.
Still, she appreciates a little extra help here and there.
Enter Jim Mottishaw, known to many as the long-time manager and media spokesperson for the BC Wildfire Service program in the region. He retired from the fire service in the spring of 2015 after 38 years of duty here in the Okanagan or wherever help was needed.
Jim’s concern for the elderly emerged after his mom moved into Haven Hill in 2006 and he noticed how many other residents didn’t have regular visitors or family nearby.
“I saw her several times a week and I saw the loneliness in people there who didn’t have anyone.”
Jim decided then that he wanted to help local seniors.
“I thought I could drive people to appointments and fix a few things for them.”
That winter, Jim saw his old friend, Myrna Tischer, Better at Home co-ordinator, on TV, seeking volunteers to help seniors with snow clearing around their property.
Myrna and Jim were on the parents’ advisory committee together when their children were in school so Jim knew just who to call to volunteer with seniors. Jim signed up and began to make a big difference in seniors’ lives.
Better at Home is a program of OneSky Community Resources and the South
Okanagan Seniors Wellness Society, supporting area seniors with friendly visits, light housekeeping, transportation to appointments and groceries as well as simple repairs and light yard work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, program volunteers are helping with telephone visits, grocery shopping, prescription pick up and meal deliveries in partnership with the Penticton Seniors’ Drop-In Centre Society.
“They appreciate what you do so much,” Jim says of the seniors he’s helped. “If you fix a fence, it’s the best ever, or you fix a door, it’s the best job. They genuinely appreciate the help.”
Fast forward to a couple of years ago and an email from Better at Home asking for a volunteer to take Mary to a doctor’s appointment.
Jim said he’d do it. He’s been an important presence in Mary’s life ever since.
“You are not replacing a family member in any way,” Jim stresses.
With Mary’s diminished hearing and eyesight and no local family, Jim found he could be a valuable link between the doctors and Mary at appointments, ensuring she knew what the medical personnel were saying.
When Mary had to make multiple trips to get all her groceries home on her walker, Jim helped with the shopping. When the fire department had to force open the apartment door to help Mary when she fell, Jim repaired the door.
Last year, when Jim experienced a painful back injury, his wife Yvonne stepped in to help with wheelchairs and some of his other volunteer tasks. Jim said when Mary and Yvonne got chatting, he recorded the conversation and sent it to Mary’s niece Patti in Winnipeg, her only family.
Work is also underway with CanAssist, a University of Victoria organization that develops support systems for persons with disabilities, hearing and vision loss. The hope is they will have a system that Mary can easily use to connect virtually with Patti.
It’s technology no one dreamed of 102 years ago, when Mary began life in Manitoba. She loves to share stories about those simpler days, the mischief and fun of being young and the wanderlust she had to find new adventures
She slaughtered and plucked chickens, cleaned houses, babysat and broke eggs that were frozen and used in meals for the military. Her favourite job was packing chocolates.
“You can eat the chocolates,” she laughs. There were 24 chocolates to the box and she packed 40 boxes an hour, one of the best packing rates at the plant.
Mary worked seasonally at the Banff Springs Hotel, which gave her a particularly memorable story.
“It was just like a holiday. You had your room and board paid and they paid your way from Winnipeg. I met the Queen at the Banff Springs,” she says with pride.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, toured the hotel in 1939 with her husband King George VI. It’s full circle for Mary, who met the Royal party in 1939 and received a photo and greeting from the Queen Mother’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, on Mary’s 100th birthday in 2018.
Eager for more adventure than seasonal work in Banff, Mary headed north.
She found work in a lodge in Whitehorse, where she did a little of everything, including supervising the young women who worked at the lodge.
“You met people from everywhere,” she says of the region that attracts its share of colourful adventure seekers.
She also met a trapper and miner, Seymour Evenson, a fellow who everybody seemed to know and who captured the hand of this vivacious gal from Manitoba.
“It sure was cold but we stayed warm and we had a lot of fun,” Mary says of those frigid, adventure-filled days together in the north.
Mary and Seymour returned to southern Canada, and in 1973 settled in Penticton. Following Seymour’s death, Mary enjoyed the company of companion Joe and their shared fondness for a little gambling at the casino, which they affectionately referred to as the “ding ding.”
Joe reportedly won $1,000 in one of their outings but Mary had a bit of history of good winnings of her own. When she went to the races with Seymour once, she placed a $2 bet on a 50-1 long-shot horse. Amazingly, the horse won the race.
“I didn’t know anything about the horses,” Mary explains. “I looked them over and liked this one so I bet on it. The ticket taker said I didn’t know anything. I said, ‘I won didn’t I?’”
That’s the kind of spunk Mary has displayed in 102 years of life. And she’s not interested in assisted living for herself. She’s happy in her own home and hopes to stay there with help from volunteers like Jim and Better at Home, along with daily homesupport visits.
The two are currently looking forward to celebrating one of the best parts of the special bond they share: Their birthday on
July 5 — just 38 years apart.
This year, planning is underway for
Mary, Jim and a few others to possibly gather for a socially distant lunch celebration at the Polish Bistro, one of Mary’s favourites.
It will be a pandemic-tinged birthday, just like it was 102 years ago.