"I remember telling her not to stay out of trouble. And she would say to me, 'What's the fun in that?'" said Dave Arnold.
Arnold was one of more than a dozen community members, along with Mayor Malcolm Brodie and city staff, who gathered in Richmond city centre on June 21 for a tree-planting ceremony commemorating Linda Yale.
Yale, who turned 111 last December, was Richmond's oldest resident and the second-oldest known living person in B.C. She passed away in March, leaving behind a loving family and a legacy extending beyond the Richmond community.
Arnold was one of Yale's "cribbage chauffeurs" for more than two decades.
"She was about 102 and she needed rides (to cribbage)... And so I volunteered to give her a lift to and from cards, never knowing that it would last that long," he told the Richmond News as he stood in front of the paper bark maple planted in Yale's memory.
"And I felt quite honoured to be her friend, because she always had the best outlook on life, and just kept on going like the Energizer Bunny."
Yale's funeral, which took place earlier this year, was well-attended by many, and the tree-planting ceremony was put into motion by one of her friends from cribbage.
"The thing I most like about her is that she always put everyone else first. She didn't think about herself. She always thought about what she could do for others," said her daughter Linda Vachon.
Yale always supported local charities by donating her time and effort, such as volunteering and donating quilts.
"She just always cared about the people," said Vachon.
Always ready for new adventures
Yale was a trailblazer, having competed as the only female fencer and only girl in the cross-country skiing team in Quebec in the '30s.
There was also that time when she climbed up a bridge in Montreal with her boyfriend, a story Arnold still remembers.
"And, oh my god, the police came, and they just stayed up there until the police went away and climbed down," he recalled.
At 111, she continued to speed down the hallways of Gilmore Gardens despite suffering from chronic pain following a ski accident when she was 51.
"She was always ready for new adventures... She was never shy or reluctant to do things. She was always eager," said Vachon.
Yale loved to visit Vachon and her husband back when they lived overseas, and they would always travel together during her visits.
One of Yale's favourite memories from her travels was the swans in front of Vachon's apartment by the canal in The Netherlands. The swans would keep returning to build new nests after either marrying off or getting rid of their cygnets.
A great sense of humour
To local cribbage players, Yale's humour was also one of the things that made her a beloved member of the community.
"She could give you the withering gaze at cards if she didn't get the card she wanted. Like Darth Vader had the Death Star, she had the 'Death Gaze.'" said Arnold.
"And she was not above looking up someone's sleeve if they were getting too many good cards."
In fact, Arnold's favourite memory of Yale was when she teased him.
He had once asked Yale about a bruise on her arm, to which she said, "My boyfriend did it."
"I went, like, 'What? He shouldn't bruise a lady like you!' And she looks at me and says, 'How do you know I didn't like it when he did?'" he recalled.
"I sort of loved her from that moment on."
Not only could Yale give it but she could also take it when it comes to teasing, Arnold explained.
"I think one of the things why we got along so well is... I didn't treat her like a little old lady, just one of the boys type of thing. And I think that she appreciated not being handled with kid gloves all the time," he said.
"She was a dear friend and I miss her," said Arnold.
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