Ted is 93 and still going strong. He still mows his own lawn. Ron Ward/Times & Transcript
"Horses with bobsleds would break the road, and sometimes they would have to go off the road the drifts would be so high. Sometimes the drifts would be up at the top of the hydro pole. (In some places) every winter you could walk right up to the top of the pole."
Born in Edgetts Landing, Ted is the second child of Lloyd and Levangie (Terris).
The couple raised a family of five boys and four girls, while Lloyd worked at the gypsum plant in Hillsborough.
Ted's boyhood pursuits included ball and hockey, and at the age of 12 he earned 50 cents a week bringing Gerald Smith's milk cow to and from the pasture.
One particular highlight were the singsongs on Taylor's Hill when he was about 16, including everything from banjos and ukuleles, to fiddles and mouth organs.
"Seymour Steeves could hear the music from his place," says Ted, "and he said it sounded real good."
The price to attend was 25 cents a head, and that went toward a delicious meal that was cooked and served during the popular outing.
Ted eventually went out to work on a farm; baked at a local cookie factory for a year, then joined the CNR as a driver -- before leaving for a three-year stint in the army where he reached the rank of corporal. A bad knee kept him in Canada though. After the war he returned to CN as a driver, then moved on to work in the office and enjoyed a subsequent promotion before retiring with 34 years of service.
Retirement didn't mean that Ted Simpson sat idle, far from it. Carpentry (houses) then became his focus, he and a partner working at that for quite some time.
Personal time was equally as important, and Ted and his wife of several decades, Beulah (Doucette), raised three children: Sheila, Royden and Emerson. There are now both grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Beulah Simpson is deceased.
In the nature of hobbies, hunting was a perennial favourite for most of his life.
"I used to love the woods," he says wistfully.
Travel has also enjoyed Florida, Hawaii, and British Columbia several times, making good use of his CNR train pass. He and Beulah also made regular trips to Pennsylvania to visit their daughter.
Community involvement included membership in the Legion, and he has been a lifelong member of the Valley Baptist Church where he still goes "every Sunday."
A former golfer, he still "putters in the garage," cuts wood, mows his own lawn (and whippersnips), drives, reads "a lot" of westerns and enjoys TV. He also enjoys "watching the Jays lose and win." Drawing was also an interest in years past.
Pressing on now for 94, aside from faith in God, Ted Simpson feels hard work is the key to longevity.
"I say it is," he smiles. "When I built this house, I was out shingling in the moonlight." [rc]
+ Time of Your Life features stories of people 80 years and older who aren't letting age slow them down.
© 2008 CanadaEast Interactive, Brunswick News Inc.
August 11, 2009
CANADA: Hard work is the key to longevity for 93-year-old
.
MONCTON, New Brunswick / Times & Transcript / August 11, 2009
Time of your life
By Linda Hersey
"The cars wouldn't go (on the roads) in the wintertime," recalls 93-year-old Ted (Royden) Simpson of Hillsborough.
Ted is 93 and still going strong. He still mows his own lawn. Ron Ward/Times & Transcript
"Horses with bobsleds would break the road, and sometimes they would have to go off the road the drifts would be so high. Sometimes the drifts would be up at the top of the hydro pole. (In some places) every winter you could walk right up to the top of the pole."
Born in Edgetts Landing, Ted is the second child of Lloyd and Levangie (Terris).
The couple raised a family of five boys and four girls, while Lloyd worked at the gypsum plant in Hillsborough.
Ted's boyhood pursuits included ball and hockey, and at the age of 12 he earned 50 cents a week bringing Gerald Smith's milk cow to and from the pasture.
One particular highlight were the singsongs on Taylor's Hill when he was about 16, including everything from banjos and ukuleles, to fiddles and mouth organs.
"Seymour Steeves could hear the music from his place," says Ted, "and he said it sounded real good."
The price to attend was 25 cents a head, and that went toward a delicious meal that was cooked and served during the popular outing.
Ted eventually went out to work on a farm; baked at a local cookie factory for a year, then joined the CNR as a driver -- before leaving for a three-year stint in the army where he reached the rank of corporal. A bad knee kept him in Canada though. After the war he returned to CN as a driver, then moved on to work in the office and enjoyed a subsequent promotion before retiring with 34 years of service.
Retirement didn't mean that Ted Simpson sat idle, far from it. Carpentry (houses) then became his focus, he and a partner working at that for quite some time.
Personal time was equally as important, and Ted and his wife of several decades, Beulah (Doucette), raised three children: Sheila, Royden and Emerson. There are now both grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Beulah Simpson is deceased.
In the nature of hobbies, hunting was a perennial favourite for most of his life.
"I used to love the woods," he says wistfully.
Travel has also enjoyed Florida, Hawaii, and British Columbia several times, making good use of his CNR train pass. He and Beulah also made regular trips to Pennsylvania to visit their daughter.
Community involvement included membership in the Legion, and he has been a lifelong member of the Valley Baptist Church where he still goes "every Sunday."
A former golfer, he still "putters in the garage," cuts wood, mows his own lawn (and whippersnips), drives, reads "a lot" of westerns and enjoys TV. He also enjoys "watching the Jays lose and win." Drawing was also an interest in years past.
Pressing on now for 94, aside from faith in God, Ted Simpson feels hard work is the key to longevity.
"I say it is," he smiles. "When I built this house, I was out shingling in the moonlight." [rc]
+ Time of Your Life features stories of people 80 years and older who aren't letting age slow them down.
© 2008 CanadaEast Interactive, Brunswick News Inc.
Ted is 93 and still going strong. He still mows his own lawn. Ron Ward/Times & Transcript
"Horses with bobsleds would break the road, and sometimes they would have to go off the road the drifts would be so high. Sometimes the drifts would be up at the top of the hydro pole. (In some places) every winter you could walk right up to the top of the pole."
Born in Edgetts Landing, Ted is the second child of Lloyd and Levangie (Terris).
The couple raised a family of five boys and four girls, while Lloyd worked at the gypsum plant in Hillsborough.
Ted's boyhood pursuits included ball and hockey, and at the age of 12 he earned 50 cents a week bringing Gerald Smith's milk cow to and from the pasture.
One particular highlight were the singsongs on Taylor's Hill when he was about 16, including everything from banjos and ukuleles, to fiddles and mouth organs.
"Seymour Steeves could hear the music from his place," says Ted, "and he said it sounded real good."
The price to attend was 25 cents a head, and that went toward a delicious meal that was cooked and served during the popular outing.
Ted eventually went out to work on a farm; baked at a local cookie factory for a year, then joined the CNR as a driver -- before leaving for a three-year stint in the army where he reached the rank of corporal. A bad knee kept him in Canada though. After the war he returned to CN as a driver, then moved on to work in the office and enjoyed a subsequent promotion before retiring with 34 years of service.
Retirement didn't mean that Ted Simpson sat idle, far from it. Carpentry (houses) then became his focus, he and a partner working at that for quite some time.
Personal time was equally as important, and Ted and his wife of several decades, Beulah (Doucette), raised three children: Sheila, Royden and Emerson. There are now both grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Beulah Simpson is deceased.
In the nature of hobbies, hunting was a perennial favourite for most of his life.
"I used to love the woods," he says wistfully.
Travel has also enjoyed Florida, Hawaii, and British Columbia several times, making good use of his CNR train pass. He and Beulah also made regular trips to Pennsylvania to visit their daughter.
Community involvement included membership in the Legion, and he has been a lifelong member of the Valley Baptist Church where he still goes "every Sunday."
A former golfer, he still "putters in the garage," cuts wood, mows his own lawn (and whippersnips), drives, reads "a lot" of westerns and enjoys TV. He also enjoys "watching the Jays lose and win." Drawing was also an interest in years past.
Pressing on now for 94, aside from faith in God, Ted Simpson feels hard work is the key to longevity.
"I say it is," he smiles. "When I built this house, I was out shingling in the moonlight." [rc]
+ Time of Your Life features stories of people 80 years and older who aren't letting age slow them down.
© 2008 CanadaEast Interactive, Brunswick News Inc.
