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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

At 100, she's still winning friends and winning at bridge

By: Maureen Scurfield

Posted: 05/11/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

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Leona Reid credits physical fitness and enjoying 'every minute' of life for her longevity.

THE secret to being fully alive and having a ball at 100 years old?

"Keep on trucking!" said Leona Reid, a crackerjack bridge player who celebrates her 100th birthday today.

Reid is far from your typical "old lady," tooling around Gladstone in her hot red car, purchased when she was 96. She lives in her own house, cooks, gardens and plays in five bridge clubs.

She's outlived three husbands and two of her three children. Her only grandchild is a lad of 58.

Bridge is her constant passion and she's one hot player.

"I should be good... I've played every day since 1954," said the delightful lady, born Leona Siegel in 1912. Her skin is beautiful -- she has used Nivea cream all her life -- and her voice is clear and strong. She sounds more like 50 on the phone.

Do the bridge club ladies drink wine?

"Some clubs have wine, but some just play," she said, with a laugh.

Any longevity tips?

"I've led a normal life, and enjoyed every minute! Of course, there were bumps on the road, but I also had a lot of things that were good," she said.

Until last year, Reid drove into the city regularly for her Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra subscription concerts.

She does have one helpful secret to long life and happiness -- she's easygoing.

"You have to be," said Reid, who was born in a hamlet called Waldersee, just north of Gladstone, in 1912. She moved around Manitoba and Saskatchewan and settled in Gladstone for good in 1946 at age 34.

Her first husband, Jack Griffiths, died from a ruptured appendix in 1939. Second husband Tom Lazenby was an RCAF flyer shot down and killed in 1943 and buried in Sicily.

In 1946, Reid started working as a receptionist for Dr. Gordon Smith. And, eight years later in 1954, she went to work with her third husband, Ken Reid, who had a General Motors and International Harvester dealership.

He died of complications from rheumatoid arthritis in 1982.

As for children, her daughter Joyce Griffiths Birch died in 2005, and her son Donald Reid died in 1978.

Faye Griffiths, now living in Toronto, is her remaining child.

Reid's one grandson, the son of Joyce, is Phlyp Birch and he lives in Binscarth.

She said leading an active life and being physically fit has helped her live a long, full life.

"I love dancing and I played tennis, golfed and curled, though I was never very good," she said.

And, she never stopped making new pals, either.

"People my age are gone, so you make younger friends and enjoy them."

Luckily, she has such an attractive personality, people keep adopting her as extended family. "We fell in love with her and quickly adopted her as our Manitoba Grandma," says Faye's Toronto friend, Rose Rosa, who first met Reid at 95.

"I am amazed by her smarts, her wisdom, her keen sense of the world and all within it, her spirit and her fearlessness. She's 'on the ball' more than most people I know."

There's a big party for Leona Reid this Saturday in Gladstone, and organizers are expecting 200 people at the "open tea" at Gladstone United Church from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Everyone is welcome -- just try not to scratch Leona's hot red car at the door.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 11, 2012 A11

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