The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Alice (Bibeau) Tester, a former Flin Flonner, will be turning 100 years young on Saturday, Aug. 24 at Salt Spring Island, B.C. Alice is a delightful, diminutive Canadian treasure who steals the hearts of everyone she meets. She was born Alice Bibeau in 1913 in Montreal and later graduated as a registered nurse. After initially being turned down by nursing school due to her small stature, she appealed to the chief physician of the hospital. When he finally agreed to let her enter their program, Alice climbed up on a chair and kissed his cheek. Alice first nursed in a private hospital in Hollywood and claims to have cared for Clark Gable and Bing Crosby. Her brother Joe lived in Flin Flon and when his friend Lyle Tester was planning a trip to California, Joe suggested he call on his sister. The rest is history and after Alice and Lyle celebrated a beautiful wedding in Hollywood, they settled in Flin Flon. Lyle worked as an electrician and Alice worked as a nurse in the operating room and on a medical / surgical nursing unit. They had no children of their own. Lyle and Alice retired from Flin Flon to White Rock, B.C., in 1970, where they managed a small motel. Later they retired to Salt Spring Island, a place Alice had once visited and hoped to return to live. They had a beautiful property on Swanson Road where she enjoyed a huge rose garden, fruit trees, a large goldfish pond, chickens and her pride and joy, two miniature horses. Lyle built a cart for the horses and Alice. When you mention that fact to an islander, they remember seeing Alice at one time out for a ride with her horses. Lyle passed away in 1986 and Alice maintained her home until 1999, when she moved into the Pioneer Village seniors housing complex. In 2010, she moved into a residential care facility. Alice was a poet and has been honoured for her poetry. She took piano lessons about 25 years ago and owned a player piano that she donated to the Greenwoods Care Facility. Alice loves to be the centre of attention and often will play two spoons on her knee in amazing rhythm. She likes to laugh and have fun and is often a flirt. She was a great storyteller and has been known to tell a colourful joke, embellish a story or fabricate a tale or two. She once loved to travel to Hawaii and one time spent a month in Paris. Alice was a close lifelong friend of Pierre Trudeau as well as Jean Chr_tien. Pierre visited Alice many times on Salt Spring Island. In the late 1980s she was a guest of Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev in Russia. She is well-loved and has friends everywhere, including retired nurses from Flin Flon. She used to write long letters and added copies of her poems for friends to cherish. Alice is a national treasure. We are all fortunate to have her in our lives. Alice appreciates the cards, notes and good wishes she receives from family and friends. She reads and rereads the messages. Her address is: Alice Tester Resident Residential Care Services Lady Minto Hospital 135 Crofton Road Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 1T1 Ellen (McAree) Mahoney is a former Flin Flonner and close family friend of Alice Tester.
