NEW IPSWICH — In 1909, four months after the publisher of the Boston Post began the tradition of presenting the Boston Post Cane to the oldest living resident in 700 towns across New England, Lily Pakkala was born in Finland.

“Oh, that’s right, I’m 100 years old!” said Pakkala, a longtime New Ipswich resident now living at Good Shepherd in Jaffrey.

This past Saturday, Pakkala was presented the Boston Post Cane during a special celebration at the Apostolic Lutheran Church in New Ipswich.

“Almost all our family was there,” said Barbara Somero, Pakkala’s daughter, including 50 out of her 51 grandchildren. “She has 72 great grandchildren. Two great, great grandsons and four more expected.”

According to Somero, her mother was born inside a sauna in Finland, “That’s where they used to birth babies because the hot water would make everything sterile,” said Somero.

When Pakkala was just four years old, her parents decided to leave Finland for the United States, where they settled for a while in Minnesota.

Pakkala said she liked Minnesota. “It’s a very nice state. I started school there. I learned to speak English there.”

It is also where she learned to sing one of her most favorite songs ever. “ ‘America’ was the first song I learned,” said Pakkala who began to sing the first verse of the song, “My country tis of thee...”

Growing up in Minnesota, Pakkala said she liked playing in the snow. “I liked making snow houses and sitting inside the holes,” she said. “That was fun.”

What wasn’t fun for Pakkala was seeing people who lived in her neighborhood become sick with the Spanish Influenza, a pandemic that killed an estimated 20 to 40 million people around the world from 1918 to 1919.

“My mother remembers the Spanish Influenza when it hit Minnesota because one of her best friends died,” said Somero. “She told me once you could see the horse-drawn hearses going by every day hauling bodies.”

Somero said that no one in her mother’s family ever got sick with the deadly flu because her grandmother would disinfect the house with a pine tar antiseptic.

“She would drop the brown liquid on the top of the hot wood stove and it would make clouds,” said Somero. “She said that disinfected the air.”

Sometime around 1919, Somero said, her mother’s family moved to New York, after her grandfather read in the newspaper that there was good farmland for sale in Spencer.

“The real estate companies advertised heavily in the Finnish newspaper about the farmland. A lot of people moved to New York at that time,” said Somero.

When she was just a teenager in New York, Somero said, her mother met her father, Alexander.

“The first time she ever saw him he was being confirmed,” said Somero. “The first time he saw her he said I’m going to marry you some day,”

At first, Somero said, Pakkala scoffed at the notion of marrying Alexander, but after a while she bought into the idea. “He was one of the kids in the neighborhood,” said Pakkala. “He was a real nice friend from the beginning. He was a little boy. I was a little girl. I miss him.”

Pakkala remained married to Alexander for 42 years, until he passed away in 1973. She remained in New York for many years thereafter, until old age started taking its toll on her. That’s when she made the big move to New Ipswich, to live closer to her two children, Barbara Somero and Branden Pakkala.

“My eyesight failed. I couldn’t see much,” said Pakkala. “I do things as they come. So far, I’ve gotten along alright.”

Pakkala said to compensate for the loss of her eyesight she started focusing on hearing better.

“I did a lot of stuff by hearing,” she said, including paying particular attention to sermons she would hear in church. “I would remember what he said and write it down as best I could.”

Although her vision and hearing have dulled over the years, Pakkala said her voice is just fine and she still enjoys singing.

“I like to sing church songs,” she said. “Just like we did at home.”