Article content continued

“She’s the queen of the Priory,” says her 67-year-old grandson, Richard Barwis of Sooke, B.C., referring to the extended care facility in nearby Langford that his grandmother calls home.

They’re all jockeying to see who gets to look after her

“They just love her in there, and treat her so well. They’re all jockeying to see who gets to look after her.”

British-born Alice Sjöquist had been the oldest known person in B.C. history until now, living 113 years and 13 days before her death in Kamloops in November 1991. Surpassing that age on Monday makes Barwis the ninth-oldest Canadian ever on a list headed by Quebec-born Marie-Louise Meilleur, who died in April 1998 in Corbeil, Ont., at the age of 117 years, 230 days.

By the end of January, Barwis will move up to seventh place on the list of oldest Canadians ever.

“She’s been just amazing,” said her grandson. “Until a recent little bout, she was on hardly any medication – a couple of minor things, like high blood pressure. But other than that, she was really good.”

He added: “You just have to catch her at the right time. I was with her on Christmas morning and she was sitting up drinking her coffee and happy about that. Her daughter and granddaughter from Medicine Hat were out to visit just recently, and she was happy about that, too.”

Barwis became the oldest living Canadian in April 2012 after the death of 113-year-old Cora Hansen of Medicine Hat, Alta. By the time Barwis turned 112 in December 2012, she was the 29th-oldest person in the world, according to the California-based Gerontology Research Centre, which maintains an international list of super-centenarians whose ages have been verified by researchers.