Alberta pioneer, believed to be oldest Canadian, passes at 113
By Michael Wood ,Calgary Sun
Cora Hansen, a hard-working woman of faith who at 113 years old was believed to be Canada’s oldest living person, has died.
She passed away at Wednesday at the Valleyview Care Centre in Medicine Hat with her 75-year-old daughter Eleanor MacArthur at her side.
“Her body just got tired — it was a peaceful death,” said MacArthur.
Born March 25, 1899 in Minnesota, Hansen was the youngest of 10 children to parents who emigrated from Norway.
She was 13 years old when her family settled in Jenna, Alta., two years before the First World War broke out.
Hansen met her husband there where they lived until 1972, when they retired to Elkwater, Alta.
Her husband died three years later and she stayed in the community until 1998 when she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law Alistair for a little more than three years before moving on to care facilities.
MacArthur had spent the last year feeding her mother at dinner time. She was deaf and ate meals laying in bed to the protest of no one.
“At 113, she can lie down and have her supper,” said Alistair.
Hansen’s extreme old age, attributed simply to “good genes” by her daughter, made headlines last month when Premier Alison Redford journeyed to Medicine Hat to meet the woman in person.
She and the premier gabbed by way of a dry-erase board, an encounter Alistair characterized as an “important little meeting” for his late mother-in-law.
In a statement, Redford expressed her sadness on the passing of the venerable Albertan.
“I am deeply saddened to hear that Cora passed away,” said Premier Alison Redford.
“She was an amazing lady, who led an amazing life. Cora was a true Alberta pioneer, someone who spent her extremely long and vibrant life helping to build our province into what it is today.”
The family spent Wednesday afternoon planning a service for their matriarch, but wrestled to guess how many mourners will attend now that most of her friends are gone.
“I’m only 75 and I’ve seen that in my own life,” Alistair said.
“If you live to be a 113, there’s an awful lot that have gone before you.”
