Joanne Dunaway
Special to the Tribune/Advisor
Jean Schanen Dunaway celebrated 100 years on May 15, 2014!
Jean’s entire family gathered for a weekend of celebration, including five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, the youngest a wee three-month-old great-granddaughter.
The venue at Dave and Diane Dunaway’s farm provided ample space for drinking champagne and eating cake with the birthday girl, catching up with one another, taking the dogs for walks, viewing a six-foot genealogy wall chart, and even grabbing brushes for a mass paint-in to decorate two dozen bee boxes for Bee Happy Honey bees.
On the Sunday, the celebration moved to the Seniors Village where Jean resides and family and friends enjoyed more birthday cake and ice cream.
On display were congratulatory letters from Queen Elizabeth II and Governor-General of Canada David Johnston.
Jean was a city girl, born in Portland, Oregon, who moved to a ranch in Eastern Oregon when she married Houston Dunaway.
Jean and Houston and their three children, Joanne, Jacqueline and Daniel, (David was born in Williams Lake) bought the 150 Mile House Ranch in 1950 and Jean has lived in the Cariboo ever since.
Blessed with good health, at 100 years young, Jean enjoys visits and phone calls with family, and “mystery destination drives” and other outings with her friend Fay Buchanan.
Drop-ins by younger family members give her an opportunity to demonstrate her still-sharp table pool techniques.
The family was really blessed for the weekend celebration. Jean’s granddaughter Michele Lazenby travelled all the way from Sheffield, England to join us for the occasion.
It was sunny and Jean wasn’t subject to a medical quarantine that plagued the Seniors’ Village for much of this spring.
The quarantine was lifted for a few days, then right after the party it was implemented again.
Always eager to be out and about, Jean bundled up and enjoyed the Valentine’s Day horse-drawn sleigh ride organized by the Cariboo Draft Horse and Driving Association earlier in the year.
Her family is looking forward to the next birthday celebration!
