by Marjory Frisch
SANDFIELD—“The thing I love about my mom is she loves everybody—everybody!” Marlene McIntosh said at the 100th birthday party of Rose McIntosh on Saturday, July 15.
As the temperature soared, nearly 200 people gathered at the schoolhouse in Sandfield to wish Rose a happy birthday. Her son Garfield explained, “She’s from a large family, 12 siblings; two died when they were young but of the 10 surviving, mom is one of the youngest. The older siblings had large families and some of the oldest nieces and nephews are close to my mother’s age. The Bedard family has this longevity thing going; the niece that made all the desserts, Jeannette, she’s 88 and drove here on her own, from Sudbury. There are lots of mom’s nieces and nephews here today, most in their late 80s, early 90s still spry and going strong, but mom’s the only one in her family to make it to 100. Most of the people here today are third, fourth and fifth generations of the Bedard family.”
Caroline, Garfield, Duncan and Marlene are Rose’s children. Caroline died in 2019 of cancer, she was Rose’s adopted daughter and the eldest of the McIntosh children. Rose has been a widow for over 30 years now, but in the early ‘70s they bought a place on Manitoulin Island, which Rose owns still. Though she lives in Sudbury, she continues to spend her summers on Manitoulin, even planning for next year.
Andrea McIntosh, Rose’s granddaughter organized the event: the food, the music and her mother Marlene’s tribute to Rose. She also interviewed her grandmother and made large posters with photographs depicting Rose’s life throughout the decades. These posters were set up around the perimeter of the hall and, along with the photos were quotes from Rose herself. One such quote read: ‘We had a large farm, we grew all kinds of vegetables, oats and barley. Mother would pickle eggs, beets and cucumbers. We’d have little parties and play music and dance at night, so it was quite enjoyable. We lived right in the village. Mother also made homemade whiskey and dandelion wine. One time the police came to the house and mom had to hide the still and threw the whiskey out the window!’
Diane Chafer, the youngest of Rose’s brother Dolly’s children, came from Carleton Place for the party. She came with her husband Dennis and was happy to share stories of her aunt. She had written out some of the stories she wanted to tell but could not bring herself to stand up in front of the crowd. “She’s so amazing,” Diane said, “she has a guest book of everyone whose ever been to visit her, and they’re not strangers, everyone is a friend. She’s amazing,” she said again.
Shortly after the guest of honour arrived, to much applause, her daughter Marlene stood at the front of the hall, microphone in hand and regaled the crowd with a brief family history, listing off the names and dates of birth of Rose’s siblings and stating that, though there were three born after her, Rose has survived them all. Marlene went on to entertain the well-wishers with anecdotes about Rose. The one about her run-ins with racoons ended with a warning not to get on her mother’s bad side. “When she was 90, mom said I could have her dining room table after she died. Now that she’s 100, and I’m 60, I’ve given up on the dining room table. And here’s another thing, when mom was 93, she got a 10-year passport, you’ve still got three years on it, mom.” Marlene ended by sharing what a privilege it was, at her age, to still have her mother going strong. “So, please raise your glasses and toast Rose McIntosh!”
“You know,” said Garfield McIntosh, “she started with sleeping on straw beds, driving horse and buggy and listening to the radio, living off the land, going into the bush and picking wild fruits and, you know, things have progressed since then and now she watches Netflix. That’s mom,” he said with a laugh, “she adapts to the times.”
“What’s your secret to longevity?” Rose McIntosh was asked.
“To be with the people; to love the people and to help them when they need help,” she answered simply. The Sandfield Schoolhouse was filled with nearly 200 people reflecting that love right back to the beautiful, vibrant 100-year-old birthday girl.
