Elsie Dittman turned 100 on Monday and celebrated in much the same style as when she participated in the Mayor’s Walk back in June. She took it all in stride.
St. Albert’s newest centenarian was the oldest walker at the charity event at the beginning of the summer. Accompanied by her daughter Bobbie Nicholson and Rev. Lee Bezanson of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, she had planned to only walk for about half of the scheduled five-kilometre distance, but there were constant distractions from well-wishers along the way.
“People kept stopping us and we got separated from our group. We ended up going on the 5.5-kilometre one,” Nicholson explained. “She came back. It was warm that day, the day that the farmers’ market opened. We sat out in the shade for five minutes, she hopped up, hit her thighs and said, ‘Let’s go do the market!’ We ran into the mayor eating a hot dog … he said, ‘Elsie, how did you do?’ She said, ‘Well, Nolan, let’s go do it again!’ He just about choked on his hot dog!”
Dittman was born on Oct. 4, 1910 to Thomas and Annabella Tippin of Arran Township, Ont. She has never lost either her youthfulness or her zest for life. One look at how spry she is at 100 leads the mind to imagine how ferocious she must have been at 20. Fond of horseback riding and adventure, she travelled frequently between California and Ontario with her Irish grandparents before the family eventually stayed in the United States. She met John (Jack) Dittman, a rail man with the Red Line subway system. In high romantic fashion, they married on Valentine’s Day in Sacramento in 1944. Elsie and Jack would have two daughters soon thereafter. The pleasure of taking care of children grew quickly on her and she went on to run her own home daycare for 35 years.
The Dittmans moved to St. Albert in 1979. After Jack passed, Dittman continued living on her own in their Maple Drive house until 2006 and then in her own condo until this spring. Now a resident of North Ridge Lodge, she remains a vibrant and popular personality with many friends. She has so many friends, she had to have two parties to accommodate them all. On Monday she celebrated with a special lunchtime party in the facility’s dining room but the day before she was treated to a surprise party at the Best Western hotel. According to Dittman, it was a full house of people and a house full of love. The fête continued on until midnight, with the birthday girl still going strong.
“It was a great surprise! The love of family — to me that’s the most important thing in my life at my age,” she confessed, adding she feels “just fit as a fiddle.”
Obviously in excellent health, she still has enough of the fighting spirit that helped her beat cancer three times. “I hope to live at least another year. I have so many friends,” she confessed.
Along with her two daughters, Dittman also has four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with two more on the way. Nicholson said that her mother has always been an inspiration of positivity and giving to everyone around her.
“From her we learned how to share. That was her main thing — share your friendship, share your kindness, be outgoing and always helpful … and clean up after yourself, of course,” she laughed.
