‘Just keep going’

Iris Cox and her husband, Fred, are two of the 13,930 people in Hamilton aged 85 or more, a segment of the city’s population that’s growing fast.

Her advice for a long life is simple. “Just keep going,” said Cox, who turned 85 in January. “Exercise, watch your diet.

“I think going to exercises really helps because it keeps you agile.”

Twice a week, Cox can be found at the Sackville Hill Seniors Recreation Centre on the Mountain, taking part in yoga and strength, tone and endurance exercises. Her husband, also 85, does water aerobics twice a week at the Hill Park pool.

“I think that’s what keeps us going,” she said.

Iris grew up near Bolton in Lancashire and started working at the De Havilland Aircraft Company when she was just 16. She married Fred, who was in the military at the time.

“The army didn’t pay you much money,” she said. “We just kind of existed for a couple of years.”

In the meantime, her sister and husband had immigrated to Stoney Creek. Fred was fed up with military life, so one day, he asked her if she fancied a move to Canada.

“I said ’Yeah, if you want to go, we’ll go,’” she said. “And we didn’t regret it.”

The pair immigrated to Hamilton from England in 1957, living in the same house in the Buchanan Park neighbourhood on the west Mountain since 1960.

Over time, they had five children and picked up Canadian customs. Fred managed their boys’ hockey teams and Iris coached the girls’ ringette teams. They’ve had their Tiger-Cat season tickets “with the Box J Boys” for more than 50 years. Now, they have 11 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

“We just liked it here,” she said. “We were lucky.”