Two big cakes made for a special birthday party at Surrey's Fleetwood Villa retirement home, where residents Hazel Pavan and Jean Mikolayenko both celebrated 102 years of life on Monday, Nov. 25.
Their birthdays are five days apart — Hazel's on Nov. 23, Jean's Nov. 28 — and they celebrated together with family and friends.
Along with cake, both were given birthday certificates from Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke and enjoyed in-person greetings from Surrey Councillor Linda Annis.
Pavan has lived at Fleetwood Villa for close to 20 years, while Mikolayenko moved in a few years ago.
"She (Hazel) and my dad moved there just after it opened in 2005," said her only child, Marlene Bremner. "I think she's the longest-term resident there now."
Edmonton-raised Hazel worked as a B.C. government clerk prior to retirement, she said.
"She's amazing, still walking with a walker," Bremner added. "I always call her the Energizer Bunny, just keeps going. She's slowed down over the past year or so, after a fall that had her in rehab for four months. That slowed her down a lot. But she was determined to walk again, and she did, slowly but surely. And her mind is pretty good, she's aware of what's going on around her. She was in the hospital for her past two birthdays so we celebrated there, but she was home for this one."
Jean's daughter, Rose Bollman, said her mother enjoyed the cake and punch at the birthday party.
"We're going to have a family celebration around Christmas time, when more family members are around," she noted.
Jean grew up on a farm in Arran, Saskatchwan, and lived most of her life in Winnipeg.
"She came to Surrey because I live here, near (Fleetwood Villa)," Bollman explained. "She was a homemaker, mostly, and raised five children. John passed away 25 or 26 years ago, and they were married for around 50 years."
Jean worked as a waitress, at a plant making lampshades and, when still single, travelled to Vancouver to work in the shipyards during the war years, Bollman said.
"Her sister was here, she lived to 106 and passed away just a year ago," she noted.
