Melfort's Reita Fennell passed away on Saturday at the age of 113. (Submitted photo/Carmen Irvine)

By Angie Rolheiser

Celebration of life

Saskatchewan’s oldest person and Melfort resident passes away at 113

Apr 19, 2021 | 5:37 PM

The oldest person in Saskatchewan has died at the age of 113.

Reita Fennell of Melfort passed away peacefully of natural causes with family at her side on Saturday.

Carmen Irvine called her grandmother-in-law a very vibrant, active person through her entire life.

“She loved her church, she went every Sunday to the Salvation Army, and she loved attending any function she was invited to,” Irvine said. “She was just a very social butterfly.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Fennell still loved to get out and do some shopping.

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“I was her shopping buddy for years,” Irvine said.

Fennel came from a family of ten children and grew up south of Melfort. She married Al Fennel and they were married for 55 years and had one daughter, three grandsons, seven great grandchildren, and five great great grandchildren.

Over the past year, Irvine was Fennell’s designated visitor with public health restrictions in place.

“When she got frailer, they allowed a few more family members in order to see her closer to the end of her life,” Irvine said.

Irvine said Fennell was quite sharp to the end and would often talk about remembering the Spanish Flu pandemic.

“She would have been about 10 and she recalled the masking and washing hands and having to stay in your own household and not attending functions back then, too,” Irvine said. “Very similar circumstances as this pandemic.”

Technological advances helped Irvine with keeping Fennell in touch with her family members that live farther away.

“I would take my laptop and do FaceTime with people and sometimes she almost felt like they were right across the table from her,” Irvine said. “She often would have to ask afterwards if they were right there or if she was seeing things.”

Fennell was living at Parkland Place in assisted living for the last two years but prior to that, was living at Legion Place unassisted.

“She still felt well enough in her mind that, up until about a couple of months ago, she thought maybe she could still manage on her own,” Irvine said. “She was just such a strong-willed person and she still felt so good but her body was failing her.”

A celebration of life will be held on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Salvation Army Church. The service is restricted to under 30 people with covid protocols in place but will be streamed on the Melfort Salvation Army Facebook page, as well.

Irvine will be giving the eulogy at the funeral which she said is an interesting task.

“How do you summarize a eulogy for someone who was 113 years old…. She has seen and done a lot,” Irvine said.

Fennell was the third oldest person in Canada.

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angie.rolheiser@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser