Skip to content

What a birthday! Sudbury's Patricia Sancartier celebrates her 100th birthday

Family and friends gather for a party at Pioneer Manor
161118_MD_100th
Patricia Sancartier celebrated her 100th birthday at Pioneer Manor on Nov. 16. Here she is with her two eldest daughters Lorraine Holmes (left) and Sharon Loweth. (Matt Durnan/Sudbury.com)

Five generations of family members visited Pioneer Manor on Nov. 16 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Patricia Sancartier.

Patricia is a lifelong Sudburian and was born in the Dickson family home at 395 Cartier Avenue in 1918. Her father, John Lent Dickson, was a partner in the Haight-Dickson Lumber Company, and son-in-law of James Alexander Orr, the owner and editor of the Sudbury Journal, which eventually became Journal Printing as it stands today.

A mother of five daughters, her eldest daughter Lorraine is still living in Sudbury.

Patricia married Alfred Sancartier in 1936 and they raised all five of their daughters in the Sudbury area. During the Second World War, while Alfred joined the army, Patricia worked in the lab at Inco and was a member of the reserves.

Her husband passed away in 1962, but Patricia has been in Sudbury for all but one of her 100 years.

"Mom was still living independently until she was 95," said her second oldest daughter, Sharon Loweth. "She moved down south with me to Keswick for a year, but she got homesick and wanted to come back to Sudbury."

Eldest daughter Lorraine Holmes is still living in Sudbury as well, and her son David is actually now living in the very home on Cartier Avenue where his grandmother Patricia was born 100 years ago.

Longevity is certainly in the genes for the Sancartier crew, as Patricia's older sister Florence lived to be 96, passing away in 2002.

"It's great to see so many generations here," said Sharon. "There's children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and cousins, it's pretty amazing that we're celebrating a 100th birthday."

Much of the family, both close and distant relatives don't live in Sudbury, so it has become tradition to only celebrate with the whole family at milestone years, says Sharon.

"Once mom turned 80 we decided that we'd do the family parties every five years," said Loweth. "That was 20 years ago now, and here we are, she's 100."


Comments

Verified reader

If you would like to apply to become a verified commenter, please fill out this form.