Tumbi Umbi resident Marjorie Male has just joined the centenarian club and was joined by 170 people as well as State Member for the Entrance David Mehan at a special gathering to celebrate.
Marjorie, affectionately known as Marj, is the first Glengara Retirement Village resident to hit the special milestone.
She is a well-known character in the village having lived there for 22 years.
Her birthday celebration brought together her residents, who enjoyed cake – complete with 100 candles – at a special afternoon tea.
On the following Sunday, she was joined by close family for a birthday meal.
Born in Tamworth, Marjorie Ellen Male (nee Scott) has led an interesting life.
She’s lived through World War II, the Korean War and Great Depression, and experienced Australian life before electricity, TV and talkback radio.
Marjorie grew up in a farmhouse that wasn’t connected to electricity until 1932.
When she was a young child, her family used Aladdin lamps for light and ice chests for refrigeration.
Marjorie’s father farmed wheat and sheep, and although her family was self-sufficient on the farm during the Great Depression, they often had ‘swaggies’ come to the farm door asking to work in exchange for food.
During her primary school years, Marjorie rode a horse to the Currabubula School which was eight kilometres from the family farm.
To attend high school in Tamworth, she was driven two-and-a-half kilometres to an unmanned railway station and, alongside her two cousins, would flag down the steam train by waving a disc to catch the driver’s attention.
She studied at the Tamworth Metropolitan Business College and worked at the Commonwealth Bank until she married Jim Male on March 18, 1944.
Marjorie met and fell in love with Jim when he was based at Tamworth during World War II and they had three children together.
They enjoyed 30 wonderful years in Wollongong, where Jim was a bank branch manager.
After Jim had a couple of falls at their two-storey home they realised it was time to move to more suitable accommodation.
They moved into a villa at Glengara in 2004 and made new friends together.
Asked how she feels about her big milestone, Marjorie said, “I feel very grateful, full of happiness.
“I was married for 68 years. Jim died in 2012.
“I still have my children, one at Wamberal, one at Wollongong and the other at Dubbo.
“I am happy in my home with my friends and all that life gives me.”
Nicola Riches