Iris, a resident of St John’s Villa New Lambton, recently celebrated her 104th birthday in style. She is so beloved by her friends and the employees at St John’s that although she spent her birthday in the hospital, they sent her a video of everyone wishing her a happy birthday.
The early years
Life for Iris started back in 1921. A relative of the Neves, a sheep herding family brought to Australia by wool pioneer John Macarthur, Iris spent her early years milking cows and starting her first job at the age of 13 as a cook for shearers in Tumblong, New South Wales. Later, at 19, she would work at a private Catholic girl's school at Albury.
Over the past century, Iris has seen much change. She walked across the Harbour Bridge when it opened in 1932, witnessed Charles Ulm making the first trans-Tasman flight in the Southern Cross, used lanterns at home rather than electricity, and lived through World War II.
A mother and a survivor
Iris, a mother of two sons and two daughters and a melanoma survivor, remains beautifully stylish and has a wonderful sense of humour. If you ask her about her secret to a long life, she will give you sage advice to ‘not to sit down, to keep moving.’
These days, Iris indulges her love of gardening by regularly visiting Bunnings with St John’s Villa lifestyle coordinator Aymon Jones, to whom she is particularly close.
‘He is the best boyfriend ever!’ she said.