It is often said that people who wish to keep their minds sharp and their memories intact should learn how to play bridge. Ida Smordin seems to be proof of that maxim. At 92 years of age, Ida plays bridge three to four times a week all year long, with different partners and at different clubs, often traveling out to Selkirk, Manitoba, to do so. She also can vividly recount names, dates and details from her past as if they happened yesterday.

Ida was born in Winnipeg in 1912, lived for a brief time on Selkirk Avenue, on her grandparents' farm in Bird's Hill, and then for most of her childhood in Elmwood in a home attached to her parents' dry goods store. As a child she spent many Saturday nights on the look out for shoplifters, and recalls how difficult it was for her parents to collect the money owed to them by many of their regular customers.

Ida's father, Louis Meyerowitz, had immigrated to Canada from Lithuania via South Africa and met his future wife, Katie Lazar, his first day in Winnipeg. An intelligent, outgoing man with a great sense of humour, he suffered a stroke at the age of 53 and was bedridden for the next 23 years. Katie, who also was born in Lithuania and a dressmaker by profession, took over the store while caring for her husband and her four children, Ida, Harry, Hilda & Sam. An easy going and kind woman, she kept a kosher home, instilled Jewish values in her children, and never complained about her difficult life.

Ida attended Lord Selkirk School, St. John's Tech and the University of Manitoba. A member of the Alpha Kappa sorority, she led a very busy social life and found little time to devote to her studies. Following university, Ida worked as an interior designer in the drapery department of Hudson's Bay, remaining on the job even after she married Harvey Smordin in 1935. She did quit work when she became pregnant with her first child in 1937. During this time Harvey was employed at the Grain Exchange, where he had begun working when he was just 16. Harvey later worked for many years as an accountant and office manager in the garment manufacturing industry.

Ida and Harvey had two sons, Lyle and Don, and a daughter, Ruth, who passed away in 1948 when she was just two years old. In 1956, Ida, Harvey, Lyle and Don moved to Saskatoon for Harvey's work. After 12 years there, Ida announced 'my sentence is up' and they moved back to Winnipeg, timing their return to the birth of their first grandchild. A short time after returning to Winnipeg, they moved into the north end apartment in which Ida, widowed since 1991, still lives today. Ida also taught herself how to play bridge soon after their return to Winnipeg when she discovered that her closest friends were busy with careers and other commitments.

In addition to her regular weekly bridge games, Ida enjoys the company of her children, grandchildren and five great-grandchildren: Gilad and Oren Binnun, Lily Delande and Gabrielle and Zoe Tselos. Don's daughters, Leslie and Sandy, a veterinarian and criminal lawyer respectively, both live in Ontario, and Lyle's youngest daughter, Marni, lives in Minneapolis. Don and his wife Frances, Lyle and his wife Evita, and their daughters, Jodi and Francyn, all remain in Winnipeg. Lyle's oldest daughter Jodi is a nurse at the Children's Hospital, Marni & Francyn have graduated with their Bachelor degrees. Ida is very proud of all of her family members, and is, as well, proud to be Jewish and proud of the accomplishments of the Winnipeg Jewish community.