For Mother’s Day, advice on long life

She’s pretty amazing at 107.

What is the secret to living a long and happy life?

Nellie (Toots) Brown would tell you it’s merely genetics. With a mother who lived to 100, and a father who lived to 98, it is easy to wrap it up as just that.

So, what is the secret to living a long and happy 107 year life? Live fearlessly and unapologetically like Nellie (Toots) Brown.

But to live to 107? In order to learn about who she is, let’s first turn to her parents.

Toots’ parents were Irish immigrants looking each to seek a better life for their futures. Being no strangers to war, Mae and Bob Crawford came to Canada when Mae was only 16, leaving Northern Ireland where people were fighting over differing religious beliefs.

They both settled in Winnipeg, where Toots was the second born of five. She grew up alongside the three younger sisters she cared for, learning the value of responsibility and accountability by the age of 12.

She grew up in Norwood, learning from her father’s business, Crawford’s Garage on Marion Street. Toots listened intently to her father and how he conducted his business, working through issues and finding solutions.

To this day, Toots will talk about how he outsmarted a big oil company who tried to overtake him.

Her biggest takeaway was that one of the secrets to having a good business was to have no debt, something easier said than done.

Toots learned practical skills that taught her independence, self-sufficiency, good interpersonal relationships and good judgment, all of which she applied to her everyday life.

In addition to this, Toots developed a strong faith which helped guide her goals of helping the city’s poor and vulnerable.

As young adults, Toots and her husband Percy left the comfort of their church to help build the foundations of the Lighthouse Mission, of which Percy’s grandmother was a founding member.

Toots started up a Sunday school program that fed the children of the extended neighbourhood. They would provide warm clothes when needed and would pick up and drop off the children in a bus.

They started a young adult band, providing instruments when needed and teaching them how to play. They also had a broadcast from the mission on CKY Radio every Sunday evening.

And finally, they gave opportunities to local seminary students to do further work within the mission, such as speaking, singing and serving. Many of those students would continue their work in church ministry in Manitoba and beyond.

Toots and Percy would spend over 55 years volunteering their time to help those in need through the Lighthouse Mission.

After 64 years of being located at 221 Alexander Ave., Toots and Percy moved the Lighthouse Mission to 669 Main St., where they initiated a soup kitchen. This initiative continues to be an incredible beacon of light for Winnipeg to this day.

Toots and Percy had two daughters, both of whom worked as nurses for many years, and have now retired. She has several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Toots may chalk up her 107 years to genetics, coming from strong, resilient parents, but if you were to ask those around her, they’d tell you of her strong personality and tireless self-sacrifice.

They would say she is kind to everyone, a conflict-averse peacemaker who is outgoing, smart and infectiously positive. They may talk about how she didn’t partake in drugs or alcohol, maintained a good diet and was grounded in her faith and her hard work.

They may even mention that she lived independently in her condo until January of this year, at 106.

So, what is the secret to living a long and happy 107-year life? Live fearlessly and unapologetically like Toots.

Ordinarily extraordinary.

Valdine Berry is the daughter of Nellie (Toots) Brown.