Pakenham 101-year-old Marjorie White with daughter Jean Chugg, Barry Fleming, Dennis Chugg, Sabrina Fleming and Lea Fleming during the celebration at Ron Andrews Nursing Home.
MARJORIE White always welcomes a cup of tea, and the beverage’s legendary soothing powers have certainly done her good.
The Pakenham woman turned 101 on Monday.
A resident at Ron Andrews Nursing Home, Marjorie was surrounded by family and friends for her birthday celebration.
Favourite pastimes have included gardening, knitting and embroidery and later playing bingo.
Born on 26 February, 1906, in London, England, Marjorie was one of eight children born to Arthur and Bessie Rouledge.
She spent the first part of her life in Watlington, Oxfordshire, where the family lived in The Old Mill House, a residence later made famous in a book of the same name by author Paul McCusker.
At 15, Marjorie left home and went into service as a maid for a family in London. She later married gasfitter Douglas Lock and had two children, Dennis and Jean.
Mr Lock died at the age of 48 and when daughter Jean married an Australian man named Dennis, Marjorie decided to move with them to Australia.
In Australia, Marjorie had three marriages, outliving all her husbands –Jack, Arthur and Allan.
She lived at various times in Melbourne, Bairnsdale and Queensland.
In more recent years, Marjorie has been cared for in three different care facilities, including the Ron Andrews Nursing Home.
