There was nothing but smiles at Fairhaven Long-Term Care Home last month when generations came together for the meeting of a Peterborough centenarian and her 12-week-old namesake.
The namesake, Winnie June Rasenberg, took a taxing journey with her mother from Kingston Peninsula in New Brunswick specifically to meet the 101-year-old Winnifred Hunter who inspired her name.
“It was so special,” says the baby’s mother Megan Doughty. “The two of them were just beaming. It was perfect.”
Doughty, who was born and spent most of her life in Peterborough before moving east a year and a half ago, first became acquainted with Hunter at the end of 2021. When a roommate introduced her to Hunter’s niece (who is also named Winnie), Doughty learned the family was searching for someone who could help Hunter and keep her company.
A personal support worker at the time, Doughty took on the role, visiting Hunter once or twice per week at Kawartha Heights Retirement Living to help with shopping and “adorable” requests like delivering chocolate and fresh-cut flowers.
“She always wanted Laughing Cow cheese,” Doughty recalls. “But mostly I would just sit and chat. We would talk politics because she’s very sharp, very engaged, and she’d tell me her stories about her family. We just had this wonderful conversation, and I grew really fond of her.”
“I always looked forward to when she was coming,” Hunter tells kawarthaNOW. “It was a very nice deed.”
Like Doughty, Hunter is a Kawartha native, raised on a farm close to Springville in what was at the time North Monaghan Township. A chemist, Hunter worked in labs all over, including a munitions lab inspecting gunpowder during World War II, a public health lab in Toronto, a cosmetics labs in Edmonton, and the Quaker Oats factory in Peterborough.
She then spent close to 57 years, unmarried, in Dallas, Texas “to get away from the snow for a while,” before moving into Kawartha Heights Retirement Living in 2018.
“She is a fiercely independent woman which is a core value for me, and I wish it for my Winnie,” Doughty says, noting that even now at a 101 years old, Hunter is very self-reliant. “She’s indomitable, and never gives up. I was expecting to see a big change in her this time, but she was just as sparkling as ever.”
Hunter recently moved from Kawartha Heights Retirement Living into Fairhaven after recovering from a COVID-19 infection that put her in the hospital in October, just before her 101st birthday and the same week Doughty’s daughter was born.
Hunter has since “bounced back” and was eager to meet her namesake.
“I was really delighted, pleased, and honoured,” says Hunter, referring to Doughty and her partner naming their firstborn child after her. “It’s lovely to think of the baby out there who will grow up and be called Winnie.”
Doughty is hopeful that her daughter (who is affectionately called “Wee Winnie”) grows up to have more than simply a name in common with Hunter, including her longevity.
“I feel like a big part of Winnie’s longevity is attributed to her very radiant spirit,” says Doughty. “She speaks so genuinely with such a kind heart and has a deep sensitivity for the situation of others.”
It seems Doughty’s wish has come true already, as “Wee Winnie” was more than happy to have met the woman who inspired her name. Already Hunter was sharing stories with the infant and giving advice that only a centenarian can.
“That was lovely of her to bring the baby who was, of course, just a lovely child,” says Hunter. “She was happy the whole time she was here. She’s going to be a lovely little girl.”
“Winnie is such a beaming little soul and already loves to laugh,” Doughty says of her daughter. “She’s so smiley and social and really engaged, and that’s totally who the elder Winnie is in my mind, too. I hope that my Winnie always carries that spirit with her and that sincere positivity.”
While Doughty has many hopes for how Winnie will grow up in the footsteps of her eponym, Hunter has just one simple wish.
“I just hope her to be a kind child,” Hunter says. “I hope they all have a very good life in New Brunswick, enjoy themselves, and continue on their way.”
