Joan celebrates her 100th birthday in fine style

Erina Heights Garden Club celebrated the 100th birthday of long-time member Joan Gay in fine style on September 19.

Following their regular meeting, members and guests sang Happy Birthday to Joan and presented her with a birthday cake, good wishes and a card signed by everyone present along with a beautifully wrapped posy of flowers presented by Club Publicity Officer Pam Warton, who has known Joan since 1970.  

Then followed a morning tea in the lovely nursery setting surrounded by aromatic fragrant herbs and flowers.

A happy resident at The Orchards Aged Care at Lisarow, Joan returns to the family home in Terrigal most Saturdays, where son Neil said she settles into the kitchen to continue making jams and relishes for Terrigal Uniting Church.

She recently also enjoyed a 100th birthday earlier this month with 35 friends and family members at the Terrigal home.

Born in Gosford Hospital on September 8, 1925, Joan attended Somersby Primary School and Gosford High School and then enrolled into nursing at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

She also worked in the family citrus orchard contributing to the WW2 effort.

In 1945 she married Jim Gay and they worked their own sugarcane farm in North Queensland for 10 years.

They returned to the Central Coast and settled at Terrigal with sons Jeff and Tim, expanded the family with two more sons, Ian and Neil, and developed their GES Engineering business in Gosford – Gosford Engineering Service.

Joan became an active volunteer in Boy Scouts as well as at the Terrigal Primary School P&C and the Terrigal Methodist Church which later was inaugurated in 1977 as The Uniting Church in Australia.

From 1965-1975 Joan became involved in the Rotary Club’s Inner Wheel group whilst raising her family and when all the children finished school she and Jim travelled Europe visiting family in England.  

After Jim retired they travelled around Australia a couple of times.

Joan began volunteering with Meals on Wheels and Erina Heights Garden Club, where she was secretary, treasurer and president over the years.

She was made a life member of the club at the AGM in 2018. 

Following her husband’s death Joan became involved with Wraps with Love in 1995, teaching volunteers how to knit squares to make rugs for women in developing countries and supporting the group in transporting hundreds of rugs to Sydney to be flown to their destinations. 

From 2005 she remained busy volunteering with Meals on Wheels and Terrigal Uniting Church, making homemade jams, chutneys and relishes from fruit provided by the bountiful farm in Somersby. 

She was named Senior Citizen of the Year at a Central Coast Council Awards ceremony in 2011. 

When asked what she thought about all the fuss being made about her, she said ‘it’s so much nicer than an obituary’ and brought the house down.

From 2015 onwards Joan spent much of her spare time with her grandchildren and recovered with some medical issues around 2018 with the help of son Neil.

Joan was also a supporter of Elsie’s Retreat and contributed generously to the Palliative Care Unit which opened at Gosford Hospital in 2021.

She still regularly attends the Repair Café, a free event for the community held at the church on the last Saturday each month, where she enjoys a barista coffee, cakes and freshly made pizza as she chats with friends bringing items to be repaired.