Eliesabeth Richter turned 100 years of age on Nov. 19 and friends and family were at Fairvern Nursing Home to help her celebrate.

Richter loved every minute of her party, from chatting with the assembled company to cutting the huge birthday birthday cake baked in her honour.  Richter was born in Germany in 1907. She came to Canada at the age of 13 and lived on a farm in Saskatchewan.

At the age of 19, Richter returned to Germany to visit family and got stuck there when World War II broke out. After the war, Richter lived with one of her brothers in Toronto, eventually making her way to Muskoka. She found a nursemaid position for a family on Paint Lake in Dorset and there made her home.

She also worked as a gardener and caretaker in Lake of Bays and rode a bicycle from Paint Lake to her place of work for many years. Eventually her employer supplied her with a car and she finally got her driver’s licence at the age of 55.

A great lover of the outdoors, Richter had beautiful rose gardens at her home. She also enjoyed her rowboat in summer and hunted partridge and rabbit in Dorset in the fall. She spent many hours skating on the lake during the winter months, and in any season could be found walking and communing with nature.

Asked to what she credits her longevity, Richter replied: “No husband and no kids. It’s made for a damn good long life.”