And baby makes 100
Saskatoon woman ready to welcome 100th descendant
Deltha Harriman can remember the names of her 99 descendants, but they shouldn’t expect much more than that.
“I used to send birthday cards, but now they’re lucky if I call,” the 96-year-old Saskatoon woman said with a laugh.
Harriman is expected to welcome her 100th offspring into the world next month when her granddaughter, Erin, has a baby.
“Who started all of this anyway? I guess I did,” Harriman said. “I just feel so blessed. I live for them.” The feeling is mutual. “She makes every one of us feel special,” Harriman’s daughter, Patricia Nimchuk, said during a visit to her mom’s Richmond Heights seniors’ complex.
She was born June 29, 1919 to Polish immigrants Mary and Michael Kaminsky about 75 kilometres east of Saskatoon. One of nine kids, she worked hard on the family farm near the town of Peterson.
At first, she wasn’t sure she wanted kids of her own.
“I thought maybe I’d just have a fling and then travel. Now I don’t know what I’d do without them,” she said.
She met a local teenager, Fred Harriman. He asked her to a dance in nearby Meacham, and then a movie. It was love.
She married at age 19 and had a baby one year later. The first eight were born predictably every two years, but she gave birth one final time at age 45.
Harriman and her husband farmed, cared for the kids — all of whom are still alive — and operated a gas station at the junction of highways 2 and 5.
“It was very hectic. I had the kids doing dishes, washing floors,” she said.
Nimchuk remembers growing up in the large household.
“You just put one foot in front of the other and do it. We worked together and also played together,” she said.
The Harriman kids would spend hours picking berries. They’d sell them to passing truckers and use the money to attend the Saskatoon exhibition.
Most of her nine kids had large families, as did her grandkids and great-grandkids. She now has seven great great- grandchildren, and counting.
“The phone is ringing lots. Everybody’s always visiting,” she said.
Harriman has maintained good health, goes for walks through the neighbourhood and cooks most of her own meals. She said she’s excited about the upcoming addition to her family, and hopes to be well enough to attend a few more weddings and baptisms.
“I’ll eventually go to the ‘other place.’ ” she said. “I hope it’s fun there. I’m sure there will be a lot of love.”