Spunky senior’s optimism presents a good example

In the 1920s, a Vancouver dance school used her on its advertisement posters. Today, Betty Weller could be the poster girl for Recreation Oak Bay’s Active Aging Week.

Although it seems impolite to ask her age, it can be guessed at by flipping through photos of the Oak Bay resident as a young ‘classical acrobatics’ dancer in the 1920s.

Her life story weaves through decades of revelations.

She immigrated to Canada from England with her mother and sister after her father died (“We had a terrible time,” she recalls). She danced professionally while clerking at David Spencer’s in Vancouver (“I had to work, there was no one to look after us”).

She became a buyer at Saba Brothers on Granville Street (“I improved myself”). She lost two beaus in World War II (“That’s when I said ‘it’s not worth it, I’m not getting married’”). She bought her first house for $3,000 in Kerrisdale and it doubled in value in just a few years (“I said, ‘by jove, this is the way to make money’”).

And she got married for the first time in her ninth decade.

“Don’t think you can’t fall in love because you’re old, believe me,” Weller said in her spacious Oak Bay Avenue condominium.

Weller was 80 when neighbour and widower Raymond Weller, 71, proposed. She picks up a photo of them. “We had 16 good years,” before he died two years ago, she said.

“I consider my life to be an adventure in itself,” she said.

Active Aging Week began in Greater Victoria as a cornucopia of exercise events intended to encourage seniors to become more physically active. Since then, its focus has expanded in Oak Bay, according to Jenny Rhodes, Monterey Recreation Centre’s recreation programmer.

“Research is starting to show that any activity is beneficial to your health,” she said. “Research shows that seniors who take part in singalongs or art classes – that also contributes to a healthier life. It’s not only about physical health.”

Weller has a cleaning service come in twice a week, but still cooks her own meals. At 70 she took up piano and reached Grade 7. She walks with a smart step and lifts a shapely leg to prove she can do her own pedicures. “I did give up my driver’s licence this year, although I didn’t have to.”

For Active Aging Week, Sept. 21-27, Recreation Oak Bay is opening the doors of its three recreation centres.

People over 50 can tour the Monterey or Oak Bay recreation centres to learn more about courses and workshops offered. They can take part in free fitness classes, skate for free at the Oak Bay arena, or take in a round of par 3 golf at Henderson Recreation Centre. For more information, call 250-595-7946.

vmoreau@saanichnews.com