2021-09-01

Centenarian enjoys complimentary bus ride for her birthday

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Jean Mosher of South Brookfield turned 100 this summer and was gifted a ride by Queens County Transit to wherever she wanted to go.

"We went all down to Lunenburg, LaHave and around the shore," she said in a recent interview. "It was a wonderful thing and we ended up with a double-decker ice cream in Wileville."

Driver David Dicks took Jean, as well as her daughter, Lorna Cole, and daughter-in-law Mona Mosher on the trip in early August, following her July 30th birthday.

Her favourite part of the ride was "being able to go and see lots of the country I haven't seen. I had no idea Lunenburg was as big as it was."

"It was a great day for her. She talked about it for days," said Mona.

Dicks discovered Jean was turning 100 years old after giving her a drive for a medical appointment.

"Her daughter told me that she was going to turn 100. We got talking back at the office and I said we should see if she wanted to go for a drive somewhere," he recalled. "I don't know how many times that she told me how much she enjoyed it."

Many would agree that making it to 100 years old is no small feat; Jean was reflective on how she accomplished it.

"I don't know. I guess I did something right," she said. "But I guess it was the way I was brought up. We were a poor family, but a happy family. We just took things as they came."

Jean was born in Scotland and raised in England. She married her husband, Lester Mosher, in 1942 in England. In 1946 she travelled by boat across the Atlantic to Pier 21 in Halifax, where she was met by Lester, a member of the West Nova Scotia Regiment.

They then boarded the train to Bridgewater. From there they went to New Germany to stay with Lester's parents for a while, before making the trek to South Brookfield where Jean has resided ever since. She still lives in her own home, helped by home care and family members.

The couple was married for 67 years before the death of Lester in 2010 at the age of 96.

Jean has worked several jobs in the North Queens area and is well known there. She was employed at the general store, nursing home, as a school janitor, and she was the coordinator for home care in Queens. She retired in 1972, but not because she wanted to. Computers had started coming into operations and she didn't want to learn how to work with them.

While healthy for most of her life, a few years ago she underwent back surgery and, more recently, had a pacemaker fitted. She has also developed mobility issues and her sight and hearing are deteriorating. However, overall, she is in pretty good health, according to daughter-in-law Mona.

Previously an avid knitter and crocheter, the centenarian still enjoys watching game shows and other programs on TV. And thanks to Queens Transit and others, she's been able to enjoy a little bit more of her world as well.