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Castlegar woman survives two pandemics

Molly Pacey turned 102 years old on Dec. 30, 2020.
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A group of women wear masks to help guard them against the Spanish flu. Photo: courtesy of the University of Waterloo

Submitted by Diana Daghofer

Born during the Spanish flu, Castlegar resident Molly Pacey has lived to experience a second pandemic this year.

Pacey turned 102 years old on Dec. 30, 2020. She takes this sort of trial in stride, though, possibly due to her stormy entry into this world.

Molly was born at the height of the Spanish Flu, in 1918, at Victoria Private Hospital in Victoria, B.C. Her mother actually had the Spanish flu at the time of Paceys’s birth. They went together from the hospital to a sanatorium where her mom, Mary Kennedy, recovered.

Pacey’s dad worked at his own logging company at the time. During Pacey’s birth, her dad was out on the ocean in a raging snowstorm trying to gather in logs that had broken free from their boom.

Having grown up and lived most of her life in Victoria and Vancouver, Pacey has now been a resident of Castle Wood Village in Castlegar for almost 11 years.

It was a quiet birthday celebration for Pacey, with a distanced visit from her son, Don, of Rossland, to mark the occasion. Pacey also has other son who lives in the Okanagan.

Pacey has seen innumerable changes in her lifetime.

“I remember listening to the very first radio in Victoria when I was 8 or 9 years old and changing over from an ice box to a refrigerator,” said Pacey.

“I used to follow the bread man’s horse and wagon when he came around our neighbourhood.”

Pacey has stayed well, if somewhat lonely, throughout the current pandemic. She passes her time reading, playing cards and watching TV. British period pieces like Downton Abbey are among her favourites.

READ MORE: Personalized messages to Castlegar seniors from the community



betsy.kline@castlegarnews.com

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