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Summerland pioneer celebrates 101st birthday

Violet Farrow and her husband constructed homes along Purvis Road
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Violet Farrow of Summerland is celebrating her 101st birthday on Jan. 30, 2021. (Contributed)

Some of the houses along Purvis Road in Summerland were constructed by Harvey and Violet Farrow, who once owned much of the land in the area.

Today Violet Farrow, who is celebrating her 101st birthday on Jan. 30, still lives independently in a house she and her husband built on that street. It is one of five houses they built.

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Violet was born in Vidora, Sask. in 1920. She moved to Summerland in 1945 with her parents, Mary and John Soderberg.

In Summerland, the Soderbergs opened a garage close to the location of the present-day post office in downtown Summerland.

Farrow worked as a telephone operator and later at the B.C. Fruit Shippers packinghouse in downtown Summerland.

She married Harvey Farrow in 1951. The two owned land on Purvis Road and also an orchard on Quinpool Road in Summerland.

Harvey died in 1993, but Violet continues to live in the same home she and her husband built. She follows news and current events and is a fan of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team.

While she will not be able to enjoy a birthday celebration, she will be receiving telephone calls from her children, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren, said her daughter Grace Lethebe.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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