STAFF PHOTO/SJOERD WITTEVEEN Ellenor Peat (from left), Dorothy Pleasance and Mary Gilroyjoin Mrs. Pleasance at St. Paul’s Anglican Church last Wednesday to celebrate her 100th birthday. Mrs. Pleasance received a thank you plaque from the Town of Newmarket for her volunteer work at the church.

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Amanda Persico, Staff Writer

That’s the advice from Aurora resident Dorothy Pleasance, who says she has made cod liver oil a part of her life for all of her 100 years.

“I didn’t realize I’m 100,” she said. “I don’t feel it. I feel in good health.”

Mrs. Pleasance turned 100 at the beginning of September.

Dolled up in a crisp blue sweater and a brooch she painted, she visits with her friends at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Newmarket every Wednesday where, up until a few years ago, she volunteered and organized a domino playing group for physically and mentally disabled church-goers.

Cod liver oil keeps her looking young, she said, but plenty of walking and fresh air keep her going.

“She even walks up and down the balcony in the winter time,” said May Gilroy, Mrs. Pleasance’s longtime friend.

“I would drive her home from church and she would say, ‘Now, I have to go outside for exercise.’”

Walking now makes up for three years she spent in a body cast when she was 15.

Mrs. Pleasance came into contact with tuberculosis after buying suspect milk.

“I was an invalid for three years,” she said.

“They hung me from the ceiling naked and molded the plaster to my body.”

Every three months, doctors removed and replaced the cast. She ate her supper while lying face down on the diningroom table. Mrs. Pleasance was the only one of 12 children in her family who contracted the virus.

Mrs. Pleasance moved to Ontario from Newfoundland in her 20s and worked as a nanny.

But her home by the sea still left an impression on her.

She painted the rolling hills and the deep sea of the Newfoundland landscape from memory until she was 88.

During the summer months, she travelled to Newfoundland and lived in a little white cottage by the water.

Mrs. Pleasance plans to move in with two of her younger sisters.

For her 100th birthday, friends from St. Paul’s Anglican Church gave her 100 pink and white roses.

She also received a plaque from the Town of Newmarket for her volunteer services and a letter from Queen Elizabeth congratulating her on living a long, healthy life.

“A colour photo of the Queen? She was smiling and wearing that big white hat. It’s not very flattering.”