100 candles

CENTURY MARK: Imbler Elementary School second-grader Bryce Sullivan talks with Freda Cant at a celebration of her 100th birthday in Wade Hall. DICK MASON / The Observer

Elementary students help Imbler woman celebrate her centenarian status 

IMBLER — At age 100, Freda Cant is still a step or two, or three, ahead of Father Time.

Cant is still nimble enough to garden and her mind and wit remain quick.

But on Thursday afternoon she found herself at a loss for words, a loss even an unabridged Webster’s dictionary could not address.

Cant was at Imbler Elementary where her 100th birthday was being celebrated, a party attended by all of the school’s students. A party that touched her deeply. 

“It has been a grand day, more than perfect,’’ Cant said near the end of the party. “All of the words in a dictionary could not express this day.’’

Cant, who lives in Imbler, received cards from all 164 of Imbler Elementary’s students at the party in Wade Hall. The students also asked her many questions about her life experiences. One child asked if she has ridden horses.

“Almost all of my life, some people have said I was born on horseback,” said Cant, who stopped riding horses several years ago.

Another student asked about her secret to living a long life. She credits her longevity to the good, nutritious food she ate while growing up on a sheep ranch near Dayville.

One student wanted to know if there were automobiles around when Cant was a child. The centenarian said she remembers her family always having a car, but said driving was often dicey long ago since only dirt roads were available. Roads that quickly became muddy during cloud bursts, making it easy for drivers to slide off and get stuck.

“I always wished it would not rain because then we could go somewhere,” Cant said.

She attended a three-room school in Dayville, one at which students in grades one to 12 were educated. Cant graduated from Dayville High School in 1929.

Cant then attended Oregon State University in Corvallis before returning to her family’s Dayville-area ranch. She later married James Cant and they operated the ranch until the 1970s when it became part of the new John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Today her former home serves as the headquarters of the John Day Fossil Bed National Monument, which is run by the National Parks Service.

Freda and James Cant moved to Imbler in 1977. Today Freda, who raised three daughters and one son, has 10 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. 

Cant appeared at Wade Hall for Thursday’s celebration in part because of her strong family ties to the Imbler School District.

J.D. Cant, a vocational agriculture teacher at Imbler High School, is one of Freda’s grandsons and his wife, Audrey, teaches kindergarten at Imbler Elementary.

Audrey and J.D. played major roles in organizing the party for Freda, along with many other school district teachers. Audrey Cant said the school’s students were delighted to meet the new centenarian.

“It was such a unique experience for them to get such a different perspective on the world from someone who has lived so long and lives here. They were really excited.” 

The kindergarten teacher also said her husband’s grandmother was delighted by the response of the students.

“It made her world.”