As Picture Butte turns 100, Theodora Vermeer celebrates milestone birthday

Sunny South News Photo Submitted by Rianne Gajdostik.

By Joe Manio
Southern Alberta Newspapers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As Picture Butte prepares to mark its own 100th birthday later this summer, one of its residents got an early start on the celebrations on May 7.

Surrounded by her sons and their wives, and around 40 fellow residents and staff at the Green Acres Foundation Piyami Manor, Theodora Vermeer (known affectionately as Theo or Dora) was honoured ahead of her 100th birthday on May 8 with flowers, cake, music and heartfelt tributes.

It was a fitting double milestone for a community also entering its centennial year and a woman whose life has stretched across one of history’s most remarkable centuries.

Born in 1926 in the Netherlands, Theodora came of age during the Second World War, immigrated to Canada on her own as a young woman, raised a family and has now lived long enough to celebrate turning 100 in a town also nearing that mark.

Mayor Cathy Moore said the timing made the occasion even more special.

“This is also Picture Butte’s 100th birthday,” Moore told the gathering. “We’ll celebrate together.”

Moore presented Theodora with flowers, a commemorative certificate and birthday wishes on behalf of the town and council.

“From the Town of Picture Butte, from staff, myself, the mayor, and from council, we’d like to wish you a very happy 100th birthday.”

The room was filled with applause as Theodora, seated with her family, smiled through the celebration.

For Manor manager Roberta Gerstenbuhler, the day was about more than cake and decorations.

“It’s really rewarding to see that our seniors are able to age so well and have a wonderful environment to live in,” she said.

Gerstenbuhler described Theodora as small in stature but big in spirit.

“She is a small little package with a lot of energy,” she said. “She comes to all of her meals … from her room, which is located far in the back, and she just loves to move and take it all in.”

That theme—movement, determination and a positive outlook, came up repeatedly as family members reflected on the woman they know best.

Son Reny Vermeer said his mother has always approached life one day at a time.

“She just takes every single day one day at a time and just keeps on moving forward,” he said. “She enjoys every day and she just keeps moving — literally moving. She walks a lot even today.”

Asked about the secret to her longevity, Reny pointed less to genetics than attitude.

“She has a good outlook on life,” he said. “She enjoys living and just wants to do the best that she can every day, even now.”

He also shared a family story that drew smiles: while cross-country skiing years ago in the Carberry Hills with her husband, Theodora broke her leg — and still skied two miles out.

“That’s the kind of person she is,” he said.

Son John Vermeer described his mother as independent and resolute.

“She knows what she has to do, and she knows how she’s going to do it,” he said. “She’s a very tough lady.”

That toughness was forged early. Family members said she left home young and later travelled alone from Europe to Canada in the early 1950s, landing in Halifax before taking the train west to begin a new chapter on the Prairies.

In one lifetime, Theodora has seen horse-and-buggy days give way to highways and air travel, radio turn into television, televisions become smartphones, and a world at war become one linked instantly by screens.

Yet the May 7 celebration focused less on history’s sweep than on the woman in the room.

There was a large birthday cake for guests. There were hugs and handshakes. There were photos with children, grandchildren and friends.

And after dessert came another gift: the Windy City Accordions of Lethbridge, who arrived to play a selection of music including Beethoven, one of Theodora’s favourites.

Gerstenbuhler said the moment she will remember most was simple.

“Just the smile on her face having family and friends around.”

As the music filled the Manor dining room, the guest of honour sat at the centre of it all…a century old, still smiling, still moving forward, and giving Picture Butte one more birthday to celebrate.