Julia Best of Placentia was recently honoured, along with four others, at a ceremony at The Rooms in St. John’s. Mrs. Best, 96, was one of five people recognized by the provincial government for the significant contributions they’ve made in the province.
“The Seniors of Distinction Awards Program gives us an important opportunity to further promote the significant achievements of seniors in our province,” said Health and Community Services Minister and Minister Responsible for Aging and Seniors, Jerome Kennedy. “It allows us to recognize the many contributions seniors make to their communities and society, and is one of several initiatives in which our government is investing as we prepare for an older population.”
To be eligible for the award, seniors had to be nominated by an individual or group, had to be 50 years of age or older and be a current or past resident of the province. Their voluntary and paid work was considered and nominees from the past year were reviewed again this year.
Government received a total of 156 nominations.
Mrs. Best, originally from Red Island, has had a busy life helping others, and enjoys talking about the many things she’s been involved in.
Born in 1914, Mrs. Best was busy from a young age in helping out her family with chores and child-rearing on Red Island.
Stories about her younger life pour from the woman as she pointes out her numerous plaques and certificates that are framed and hang on her wall at Beachside Manor.
“I was nominated for this award by the Knights of Columbus because I was doing so much work for seniors,” stated Mrs. Best.
She said she worked hard for seniors over the years, from a very local level right to the national level as part of the Advisory Council on Aging, through which she fought against the threat of pension de-indexing in 1985 and the possible termination of Medicare, both of which were resolved successfully, with Mrs. Best’s input.
Early life
Born to William Carroll and Ellen Norman on Feb. 28, 1914, Mrs. Best was one of eight children. At age 12, she was forced to leave school to help with family chores since her mother, at 48, was pregnant and in poor health. Mrs. Best found herself running the household, and doing a good job.
At age 19, she married Mike Lamb, a widower with three children, to whom Mrs. Best became “mother.”
She also cared for many other children over the years, although she never gave birth herself. Throughout the years, Mrs. Best cared for at least 13 children.
While caring for her stepdaughter who suffered from tuberculosis, Mrs. Best contact the disease herself and eventually ended up in hospital in St. John’s. The doctor’s decoded to operate so she sent a message to her husband, who was out on the water fishing, through the Gerald S. Doyle radio program. Her husband replied in the same way, wishing her luck with the surgery.
Following the surgery, which the doctors considered successful, Mrs. Best, while waiting for a visit from her husband, heard the terrible news that he suffered a massive heart attack while out fishing with his son.
Mrs. Best recuperated from her surgery and her husband’s death while in the hospital, and upon her release, went to stay with her sister in Fox Harbour.
Volunteerism
Eventually Mrs. Best met Mac Best, whom she married, and made another home for her and her children. They also took in more children who needed homes, which Mrs. Best was happy to do.
Along with raising 13 children, Mrs. Best did what she could for the communities she lived in.
When living in Southern Harbour with her second husband, Mrs. Best got involved with the local school and church. Noticing the altar cloths and priest’s albs were in poor shape, she eventually raised 50 cents from each household, which was more than enough to replace the aging items.
She got a Seniors’ Club on the go and organized soup suppers, dances, bingo and card games. She eventually realized she could apply for government funding for some of these activities, and eventually was able to employ students during the summer to help with these activities.
She began helping with the Come By Chance hospital and formed an auxiliary there and became its first president. She was eventually appointed to the hospital board in Clarenville, a position she held for six years. Mrs. Best eventually became a strong advocate for seniors across the province as director and later president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Senior Citizens.
Realizing seniors needed a strong voice, she became that and more.
“People wouldn’t believe what I’ve done,” she said. “I was never afraid to speak up.”
Mrs. Best spoke directly to then-Premier Brian Peckford on the topic of drug costs for seniors and it was during her time as provincial president the province brought in a drug card for seniors to help pay the increasing costs of drugs.
“I found it easy to recognize an injustice and I won’t stop until I do something about it,” she said of the issue of drug cards for seniors.
“I said to Brian Peckford, ‘If you goes in your grave (before this is resolved) I’ll haul you out of it’,” she laughed. “We got the drug cards.”
While working for seniors’ clubs, Mrs. Best said she told one group which only had benches to sit on to burn their benches, reminiscent of Joey Smallwood. Mrs. Best got them chairs to sit on.
“I didn’t give up. Not on any of the issues. I always had a lot of faith and I always believed I could do good,” she said.
This woman, who went through so much in her life, always had time to help others.
“I’ve led an interesting, full life,” said Mrs. Best. “God had a purpose and left me with a purpose.”
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