Cecile Edith Klein, Canada's oldest person, has passed away at 114
CTV
Montreal-born centenarian Cecile Edith Klein passed away peacefully on Thursday, Jan. 13. Born in 1907, she lived through many of planet earth’s most defining events. At the age of 114, she was the oldest living Canadian.
She was born in the summer, June, to Louis Efros and Rebecca Pearson. The same year, Sigmund Freud first met Carl Jung in Vienna, the original metered taxi took to London’s streets, and, for the first time ever, music played on the radio.
She was known for her love of music and theatre. She also loved to learn. She spent many hours with the Cote St. Luc Drama Society, and attended Mini-Med lectures at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital.
Klein was an avid traveller. Her late husband, Erwin Klein, who passed away in 1999, was her companion, and their grandchildren later joined them on worldly adventures. At the age of 102 and 103, she went on two cruises, one to Alaska and one in Mexico.
On June 18, 2021, she celebrated her 114th birthday in Montreal's west-end city of Côte Saint-Luc. On that particular day, she wore a small bejewelled plastic crown, sunglasses, a bright red shirt with a 'Birthday Girl' pin and was kept warm with blankets and pillows while her family gathered to celebrate her birthday.
