Hospital celebrates 105-year-old volunteer

February 13, 2012

Dorrie Aber Noyek briskly maneuvers the halls of Memorial Regional Hospital picking up and delivering mail. There are no signs of slowing down — not even on this, her 105th birthday.

“Volunteering has been important to me as long as I can remember. I feel I want to give back," she said. "I think I’m very fortunate, very lucky, very blessed."

She has never driven. Walking is her preferred mode of transportation.

“From when I was quite young, all my life in England, anyway, we never had a car, not at all. And I’ve always walked. I’ve always walked miles.”

The hospital, where Aber Noyek been volunteering for 38 years, celebrated this latest milestone. Her 77-year-old daughter Audrey Steinhauer came from Toronto and marvels at her mother.

“When people hear how old she is they’re shocked, because nobody has seen a person of that age who is able to get around the way she does and who has the mental abilities she has. She lives completely on her own in a regular condo,” Steinhauer said.

On this special occasion, her mother indulged in a piece of cake. She says she usually eats small meals and has never been overweight.

“Not too much fat, too much sweets," she said. "Although to this day I eat cookies every day.” Her favorite kind is chocolate chip.

Aber Noyek only uses glasses to read, reads the entire newspaper every day, and does the crossword puzzle.

A colon cancer survivor, she has outlived two husbands and seven siblings.

“And all my friends are younger. I’ve never had older friends,” she said, admitting that it would be hard to find an older friend at her age.