Singing ‘Climb Every Mountain’ in front of a packed crowd in Vienna, nearly being kidnapped in Salzburg, and getting dangerously close to a wild boar on safari in South Africa.
These are just a few colourful tales from a life well lived by Leah, a customer of AnglicareSA’s social activities program, who recently celebrated her 104th birthday.
Leah was born in 1920, the same year the League of Nations was created, Qantas was founded, and the first detective novel by Agatha Christie was published.
As a child during the Great Depression and a young adult during World War Two, Leah has seen it all, from pandemics to the reigns of five British monarchs.
Born in Cornwall, Leah was a young woman when she moved to South Africa and met her beloved late husband Bill, who ran a successful company manufacturing car batteries.
Looking back on her life with Bill and their five children – sadly losing two of their sons at a young age – Leah said music was a big source of her family’s happiness.
“My husband loved to hear me sing – it was his greatest joy,” Leah said.
“We used to have a party once a month with our friends and Rosemary (one of Leah’s daughters) would play the piano and we’d all sing the latest songs.”
Despite some of her family still living in South Africa, there’s no shortage of friends and connection in Leah’s life.
Her no-nonsense, cheeky sense of humour and positive spirit are popular with the other ladies of AnglicareSA’s women’s social activities group, who adore her.
The group celebrated the centenarian’s birthday party with high tea, spoiling her with presents and sharing stories of her zest for life and graciousness.
Leah said she was blown away by the number of gifts and well-wishes she received from the group.
“I was overwhelmed by the level of celebration,” she said.
Leah said the key to living a fulfilling life was to always show kindness to others.
“We should live our lives with kindness,” she said.
“We should cheer up people we see. I tell them that God loves them and does not want them to be sad.
“Stop by and say hello – if you do that, you will always be happy.”