White looks good on Jean Homeniuk, Vernon's newest centenarian. The colour suits her classic sense of style, a style complimented by the fact that she doesn't look a day over 70, despite having blown past that milestone 30 years ago.
Homeniuk turned 100 years old on Sunday, Sept. 28. The day before, she celebrated the milestone at the Schubert Centre in Vernon, surrounded by friends and family who all got the memo on how to dress for the occasion.
Homeniuk has donned a white outfit on numerous special days throughout her life. Of course, she wore white on her wedding day when she and her late husband Nick began a life journey of more than 70 years together. She also wore white on all of her big milestone birthdays, her 60th wedding anniversary, and any time she could get together with her big family.
As a tribute to this fashion custom of Homeniuk's, her friends and family — including 19 of 20 great-grandchildren in attendance — all wore white to her 100th birthday party, which made for a pretty sharp-looking gathering.
White can symbolize purity, and Homeniuk is indeed a pure soul. White can also bring the angelic to mind, and Homeniuk may well have had a guardian angel looking out for her to have made it to her 100th year.
That could be said about any centenarian, but Homeniuk's case is particularly inspiring.
She explained that when she was born on Sept. 28, 1925, doctors feared she wouldn't make it.
"I was very, very sick," she said.
She was taken to the local priest, who made a prophetic pronouncement.
"He checked me and he said, 'you'll be good and strong,'" Homeniuk said, emphasizing each syllable of the priest's assessment.
"And I went from there to here now. I lived good and strong."
Homeniuk is a people person, and so she was thrilled to be surrounded by people — her people — on her birthday. In addition to 20 great-grandchildren, she has five children and nine grandchildren, said her son, Rick Homeniuk.
Born in Saskatchewan and moving to B.C. circa 1956, Homeniuk has a Ukrainian background and knows how to cook pierogies. As her children grew up she was always in the home making sure her family was well-fed, said Rick, and holidays like Christmas and Easter were a chance for her to feed as many people as possible.
She lives at the Hamlets in Vernon now and is enjoying her life there, which she still lives independently.
Asked what's the secret to a long and happy life, Homeniuk said, "Actually, there is no secret."
She sometimes wonders "why me?" when thinking about how she survived against the odds as a child, but on Saturday she quickly followed that up with: "why not?"
Life wasn't always easy for Homeniuk — "but I carried on," she said.
Life has also brought some highlights, such as when she shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II, who was recognizing Homeniuk and her husband for 34 years of volunteering with the Lions Club.
Her life advice to the younger generations hearkens back to the words that prescient priest used a century ago, words that seem to have stuck with her.
"Be happy and strong," she said. "When you're happy and strong, you'll make out."
