The oldest of the country died last week at the venerable age of 114 in Montreal, she who lived through two pandemics and who might still read a newspaper without glasses at 111 years old.
Cecile Edith Klein was born in June 1907 in Montreal. At the time, Lomer Gouin was the premier of Quebec. Two months following its birth, the province experienced the “Quebec Bridge tragedy” where 76 workers died on the structure under construction in the Capitale-Nationale.
After having gone through two world wars and more than a century of history, Ms. Klein died last Thursday in a CHSLD in Côte-Saint-Luc.
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“The last few years with the pandemic have been very difficult for her. She was still locked in her room, it didn’t help her. Before COVID, my mother was a person who went to the theater a lot, in conferences and who loved music, ”explains to the Journal his 85-year-old daughter, Harriet Nussbaum.
Amazingly, Cecile Edith Klein walked only with the help of a cane and remained independent until the age of 109.
“I think her secret to longevity is that she’s always been very positive. She even knew how to use an iPad and might read without glasses at 111. There is also genetics. My mother was even able to introduce her husband to her great-grandmother who also lived to be 103 years old,” laughs Mrs. Nussbaum.
In 1932, Cecile Edith Klein married Erwin Klein at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal.
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Her lover left her at 94. He was a pharmacist and she worked as a secretary.
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During the Great Depression in Quebec, Ms. Klein helped those around her find jobs at RCA Victor, an American record company, where she worked as a secretary.
Later, during World War II, the couple manufactured and delivered pharmaceuticals for hospitals and pharmacies in Montreal.
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“One thing that stood out to me regarding my grandmother was that she was working in 1936, when she was pregnant. At the time, it was forbidden. She therefore went to work by hiding her belly with large clothes, ”says Elaine Nussbaum, granddaughter of the deceased.
In all, Cecile Edith Klein had three children, eight grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
Credit: CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
The family of the supercentenarian recalls that she lived through two pandemics during her life. The first was in 1918 with the Spanish flu and the second is the one we are going through with COVID-19.
“In 1918, there was no Uber to deliver food. My grandmother and her father helped by delivering meals in front of the sick house. They were ringing and running quickly so as not to be infected. Luckily, she didn’t have the Spanish flu at least,” says Elaine Nussbaum.
The latter, aged 63, assures that she will also remember her grandmother as a great traveler. At 102 and 103, Cecile Edith Klein went on two cruises, one to Alaska and the other to Mexico.
Mitchell Brownstein
“The exact circumstances of his death are not known, but it is believed to be a mixture of pneumonia and COVID. Everyone in his CHSLD had caught it. I will miss her so much. It’s like there’s a hole in my life today. I would just like to talk to him once more,” concludes Elaine Nussbaum.
- Died January 13, 2022 at age 114, Cecile Edith Klein was Canada’s oldest living person
- At 111, she read the newspaper without glasses
- Still independent in her home and able to walk with a cane until she was 109
- At 102 and 103, she took two cruises to Alaska and Mexico
- In 1918, she helped sick neighbors during the Spanish flu pandemic
- She had 3 children, 8 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
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