Irene Nepstad

By Jack Krayenhoff
The surgeon who had operated on Irene's broken hip said to her friend, "This was a very heavy operation. I would not get my hopes up for the outcome. At best a walker, but at her age, I expect her to be in a wheelchair soon anyway." The friend replied, "Then you don't know Irene Nepstad."

Today, Irene walks all over James Bay, to Thrifty's, to New Horizons, to the bank, to the park. I tried to make an appointment for an interview with her. This Tuesday morning? No, she had to be at the exercise class. Wednesday? Sorry, no, that's Current Events. What about Friday then? No, that's when the Forum is on.

Now this is a lady of 97 speaking, who has a bad hip and whose macular degeneration has made her legally blind. To be so engaged in life - that speaks of VITALITY.

The first thing that strikes you about Irene is that she in mentally as sharp as a tack, and well-informed, too. One would not dream of being patronizing to her; in fact your reporter had to be constantly alert to keep up with her.

And then: her speech. Every word clearly enunciated, every sentence grammatically solid, and her vocabulary used with precision. She never interrupts herself, nor does she expect to be interrupted until she has finished her thought. These are the hallmarks of a good teacher, and indeed teaching is what she did most of her life. She loved her job and she loved her students.

"After I got my B.A. from the University of Alberta, I had my first job in a one-room country school in Blue Bell, Alberta. I had to walk one-and-a-half miles to get there. I boarded in Benalto with a couple from the Orkney Islands, who had been recruited by the CPR to buy a quarter section of land."

"After two years I went to Wembley, in the Peace River country. There was no telephone in the town, and we got mail only twice a week, on the days the train came. Wembley was the home of the famous Herman Trelle, who managed to become the Wheat King of the World. I was there in 1939, when the war broke out."

"My parents, who lived in Red Deer, felt that Wembley was too remote for me, so because so many men were in the army, I was able to get a job in Clyde, near Edmonton. This was a consolidated school, with the students from surrounding communities being bused in. In the winter buses could not get through, and then the farmers collected the children from their area in a horse-drawn caboose which was heated by a wood or coal-burning stove, with the smoke coming out of a chimney. The school board compensated the farmers by giving them a cut in their taxes. At that school I met my husband, who was also a teacher."

The Nepstads had no children. In her later teaching days, Irene taught nothing but grade 9 mathematics. Toward the end of her husband's life she became his care giver, for he had a bad heart.

Her profession gave her a lot of satisfaction, but so did volunteering in her retirement. Originally there had been a bookmobile from the Victoria Public Library, but it broke down. "So James Bay said, 'We want a library'. Then the Public Library said, 'If you will staff it five days a week, we will see you get the books'". Irene and some other James Bay people took on that challenge and got a place in the mall, and later at the Community Project. She worked there for ten years. Another job she took on there was with the Family Centre which she found satisfying "because I worked with children again".

And what did she do just for fun?

 "I curled, and I was secretary of the Victoria Ladies' Curling Club for seven consecutive Presidents. I played bridge - New Horizons has been a life-line to me." (She does not mention that New Horizons honoured her with a Life Membership because of her strong support over the years.) My husband and I were members of the Sierra Club and did many interesting hikes with them. I also played golf, but I had to quit because of my eyesight". How old was she by that time? "87".

Is her faith important to her?

"Very. In my teens I joined CGIT, Canadian Girls in Training, and their pledge was: 1. Cherish health. 2. Seek truth. 3. Know God. 4. Serve others.  Focusing on those things, reading my Bible, praying and being thankful - that gave my life a purpose and kept me on track". She is a member of James Bay United Church and attends the Board meetings.

What has made her later years so productive and satisfying?

"Doing things and serving others", is how she sums it up. "No matter how old you are, always maintain your interest in the world around you." Her friend Dorothy Lindquist says, "She goes to things even if they don't interest her all that much, because she feels she has to do them.

So that's the prescription for keeping up one's vitality: doing things and serving others.