| Alice Irvine | |
 Irvine on her 110th birthday in 2022 | |
| Birth: | 5 November 1912 Richardson, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Death: | 6 February 2023 Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada |
| Age: | 110 years, 93 days |
| Country: |  CAN
|
| Validated | |
Alice Elizabeth Irvine (née Campbell; 5 November 1912 – 6 February 2023) was a Canadian supercentenarian whose age was validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) in 2023.
Biography[]
Early Life, Family, and Career[]
Alice Irvine was born as Alice Elizabeth Campbell in Richardson, Saskatchewan, Canada, on 5 November 1912. When she was four years old, her family, composed of four children, moved to Monitor, Alberta to join other members of their family. Her brief childhood stay there was highlighted by memories of her father, George Campbell, building their two-story home. Unfortunately, four consecutive years of a significant drought caused disastrous crop failures, so the family, now consisting of five children, all piled into their Ford Model T in 1920 and drove eastward to the Rainy River District where they took up their residence on a farm two miles north of Emo, Ontario. Irvine's parents, Elsie and George, valued education, resulting in six of the eight children becoming teachers.
Irvine turned eight years old that fall and was informed by her school teacher that "if she could break up the bundles in subtraction, she would not be sent back to Grade One, taught in the church across the road." For the first few winters, her older brother Ken would drive his younger siblings into town with a horse and cutter and only once did they get upset as they crossed the railway tracks. When she was old enough, she was able to go into the town during the winter months in exchange for housework and babysitting. She accomplished these tasks and breezed through her education at the Emo Continuation School, where she attained her Grade 12 Certificate. She had her 16th birthday in 1928 when she achieved her Grade 13 (Fifth Form or Senior Matriculation) in Toronto, where she stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bartlett. Two years of working in Toronto as a playground supervisor provided the funds to attend Teachers' College at North Bay from 1931–1932. She was accompanied by her younger sister Eva, who also wanted to become a teacher. She returned to the Rainy River District and began her teaching career which spanned various years from 1932 to 1973. Over 30 students at Carpenter S.S. #1, 1932–1933, gave her much practical experience for her first year. A year later, she took over Mather #8 for five years, 1933–1938, where some students' winter transportation was either by a toboggan pulled by a dog, or a stone boat drawn by an ox. At these rural one-room schools where Grades One to Eight were taught, the Christmas concerts were great social events which brought the entire community together.
On Irvine's 26th birthday in 1938, she married William "Bill" Irvine, and the birth of their first two children, Jacqueline (born October 1939) and Bruce (born October 1940). The birth of her two children gave her a reason to stay at home until the fall of 1941. She returned to teaching from 1941–1948 at the local Mather #3 school which was a 10 minute walk down the road. One project in which all the students learned to knit squares, resulting in an afghan for the Red Cross war effort. Her younger brother Bob spent one practice teaching session here under her guidance. Mr. Lapp was the District Inspector and one of his visits totally surprised Alice, when he arrived with a Ministry of Education representative, Mr. Fred Bartlett, her long ago Toronto patron.
When Irvine taught at Mather #3, she needed a procession of "hired girls" to look after her two active youngsters, but the occasional time she had to bring her younger child, Bruce, to school where he quietly amused himself as well as disrupting the classroom lessons. The June "end-of-the-year" baseball games and picnics with homemade ice cream signified the beginning of summer holidays. When the country schools were closing in 1948, Mr. Lapp suggested that Willis Anness, the principal of Barwick Consolidated School, was happy to have her as a staff member, and she also worked as a school bus driver. The fact that she was expecting her third child, Joan, in October 1948, precluded this opportunity and provided her another hiatus from teaching.
Irvine returned to her teaching career between 1954–1956 at the "old school" in Emo, and then she worked at the Donald Young School from 1956–1973, where she taught Grade One for 17 years, and then Grades Two and Three for her last two years. Kindergarten did not exist at the time. Reading was the most important subject at the time, and the young students were all given a thorough background for future learning. During those 19 years, she calculated that she drove 106,400 miles through all kinds of weather. In bad winter storms, she would often stay with her sister Jean Curtis in Emo, so that she would not miss a day of teaching school.
Retirement, Later Life, and Death[]
Irvine retired as a teacher in 1973, after having a career that spanned 32 years. Since leaving her family's farm, she had resided in Emo's Golden Age Manor for 17 years, and later resided in Rainycrest, where she had lived for the last eight years of her life. She enjoyed it when former students, coming to visit their parents, dropped into reminisce with their first teacher.
Irvine still received a monthly pension check that far exceeded her first year's salary of $760. As of her 109th birthday in 2021, there were 145 teachers in Ontario over the age of 100 receiving pensions with Irvine being the oldest.
In November 2022, Irvine celebrated her 110th birthday and became a supercentenarian.
Alice Irvine died in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada, on 6 February 2023, at the age of 110 years, 93 days. At the time of her death, she was the second-oldest known living person in Ontario (after Gertruda Gorecka), and was also among the top 10 oldest known living residents in Canada. She was also the oldest known living person in Rainy River District.
Gallery[]
References[]
- 1921 Canada Census Government of Canada
- Oldest district resident celebrates her 109th at Rainycrest Fort Frances Times, 10 November 2021
- 110th birthday Pam Esteves on Facebook, 5 November 2022
- Alice Elizabeth Irvine (nee Campbell) Obituary Northridge Funeral Home, February 2023