A view of the select few: Doris Young looks back at 100 years on this planet

By Olivia Snyder

CALEDONIA—Hockey playoffs are approaching, and lifelong Haldimand citizen Doris Young will be watching the Toronto Maple Leafs with eager anticipation. Unlike many Leafs fans of today, Young can remember the team’s heyday in the 1960s. 

“We knew they were the best team,” grins Young. Her commitment has not wavered since then. While living in a Caledonia apartment building in the early 2000s Young made sure every resident had a snack of popcorn while they watched the game in their private rooms. In 2023 she proudly hung her Leafs jersey on her door during the playoffs … only to snatch it sadly back inside when they lost to the Florida Panthers in the second round.  

CALEDONIA—Doris Young with the Jones Bakery delivery truck she drove for her high school summer job, circa 1941. —Photo courtesy of Janette Hutton.

Young’s favourite player in the 60s was goaltender Johnny Bower. Coincidentally, Bower was born the same year as Young: 1924. The two Canadians lived rather different lives through the Great Depression, Second World War, and whirlwind decades of the late 20th century. Today she joins the ranks of young – and not-so-young – Auston Matthews fans. 

Young was raised on a dairy farm near Tyneside, northeast of Caledonia, during “Depression years” when “nobody had any money.” The family milked Guernsey cows and “always had a big garden” with “beautiful Spy apples.” Young remembers, “Dad always had a few pigs, chickens, and turkeys.”

Farming was a neighbourhood endeavor. Families in the area – including the Pattersons, bachelor Fred Moore, and the many Stonemans – routinely traded work. 

“We had wonderful neighbours, we really did,” smiles Young, “Come threshing time you always changed hands.”

“I remember bugging Dad to let me milk. I regret that,” laughs Young. 

Sharing work was important since “you had to do everything with no conveniences.” 

Even in school the children worked together to keep the room heated and class fed.

Young attended the one room schoolhouse on the corner of Tyneside and R.R. 66, where one teacher taught eight grades math, spelling, grammar, history, geography, and compositions. 

Young preferred math and did not enjoy compositions. For many years she managed household and farm finances. Looking back she proudly notes that she “could have been an accountant.” At 100 years old, her math skills are still sharp. 

School days ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The boys were responsible for bringing wood into the school so the teacher could keep the fire going. From November until March, students were paired up to cook lunch for the class. Each pair was responsible for one day’s preparing, cooking, and cleaning so that every child had a hot, hearty meal. 

After eight years of elementary school, Young moved on to the high school in Caledonia. The dads in the neighbourhood took turns driving the kids into town on school days. The high school was located where River Heights Public School is now, meaning Young’s great-grandsons are attending elementary school where she went to high school.

During high school the family moved into town, which was an adjustment for country-raised Doris. “The town girls called us hayseeds,” Young says as she shakes her head. She settled in quickly though, getting a summer delivery job for Jones Bakery in 1941. 

The early 40s were a busy time for Young. Between high school, her job at Jones Bakery, and watching the Tyneside baseball team her dad managed, her days were filled. Derwyn Young, one of the baseball players, also caught Doris’ eye. The two were married in 1945 and settled down on her childhood farm. The couple raised dairy cattle and sent their seven children to the one room schoolhouse down the road. Young remembers their strong and friendly community. 

“There were always Christmas concerts,” she says. “They had a literary society and (the students) always put on a program for it. We had a teacher who just loved that.”

Neighbours were there for social evenings, funny adventures, and difficult times. Before hydro was installed in 1951, the Youngs relied on natural gas for heat and light and she laughs as she remembers a time when the gas well flooded while she had pies in the oven. Even worse, the threshers were coming to their farm the next day and would be hungry. Doris phoned a neighbour, who happily lent her oven space. 

Hydro simplified many of the household chores. “The first thing we got for the house was a freezer,” notes Young. The next improvement was an electric washing machine and dryer. Before, Young needed help to start the gas washer and dried the family’s clothes outside all year round. 

Electricity could not solve every problem: one year in the 70s was especially tough for the family when Young slipped a disk in her back. “It was my own fault. I tried to push a cow away with my back!” She shakes her head at the memory. 

While she was in the hospital, lightning struck the house and started a damaging fire. The younger children stayed with various neighbours and relatives while the house was rebuilt, but it was difficult to be apart. Fed up with the separation, Doris and Derwyn’s newly married eldest son took the whole family in at Christmastime so they could be together. 

“Sure we had hard times. I think everyone did,” Young smiles as she looks around her cheery room, then says, “I sit here some days and think how blessed I am.” 

CALEDONIA—Local centenarian Doris Young with her youngest relative, her great-great-grandchild. —Submitted photo.

Her greatest blessings include six children and one foster son, 12 grandchildren (11 boys and one girl!), 20 great-grandchildren, and one wee little great-great-grandchild. 

While caring for and enjoying her growing family, Young always built up her community. She was involved in 4-H clubs, including sewing, baking, and gardening, the Women’s Institute, the Ladies’ Aid, and more. Daily work was a joy. Young smiles fondly, saying, “I love to sew and bake. I miss it all.”

After 100 years living and learning and giving and growing in the same community, Young sums it all up: “Life is what you make it.” For her family and neighbours, Doris Young is doing her part to make life beautiful.