DAWSON CITY Annie Henry, a Tr'ond'k Hw'ch'in First Nation elder, died at her home Monday morning at the age of 101.

She died shortly after 9 o'clock in the morning on Monday, October 24.

Henry, who died shortly after 9 a.m., had been failing for weeks now, and her final day came as no surprise.

During the day, the community was notified of the sad event by telephone, e-mail and word of mouth. Many first nation members were out of town due to the annual First Hunt Celebrations being held up on the Dempster Highway.

Henry was born to Esther and Jarvis Mitchell on Oct. 10, 1904 in the area called Black City, along what would become the Dempster HIghway. She grew up speaking the dialect called Takudh, which is still the church worship language of many Gwitchen people.

Her favourite reading material was what she called the Loucheaux Bible, which is written in that language.

Henry was a regular member of St. Paul's Anglican Church, which she attended in later years whenever her health would permit it. She was often wheeled to her seat by a relative or one of her helpers.

Henry was always eager to receive the Eucharist and to pray with the local Anglican priest at her home or at McDonald Lodge where she would occasionally stay for health reasons.

She married Joe Henry on July 15, 1921 at Moosehide, in a marriage arranged by their parents. In 1993, Henry spoke of how the two young people had had very little say in the matter.

'We didn't even know we were going to get married,' she said, laughing. ' We just get married like that.' (From the Henry Henry Exhibit at the D‰nÚja Zho Cultural Centre.)

In 2000, the Henrys were entered in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest married couple and met then-governor general Adrienne Clarkson. Joe died in the spring of 2002.

The couple had 13 children and were grandparents and great grandparents to many, many more.

Last summer, Annie Henry's life was the subject of a display at the D‰nÚja Zho Cultural Centre, along with a tent display of life in the Blackstone region. She visited it several times and enjoyed watching the video inside the tent.

Her last major birthday celebration was her centennial, in 2004, when she was surrounded by friends and well-wishers at the Tr'ond'k Hw'ch'in Heritage Hall.

One of her last major public events was the celebration of the Kippenberger Underground art installation, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in August.

During the past summer, she was often to be seen taking the air, being wheeled about town in her chair.