Happy 100th birthday, Mrs Ormsby!

As Mrs Grace Ormsby approaches her 100th birthday on 12 February, she shares her reflections from the past century, along with some notable advice.

Growing up on the family farm in Snowtown, South Australia, with her sister and brother, Mrs Ormsby remembers a busy start to life.

Mrs Ormsby says, ‘My father was a WWI veteran and met my mother when he returned from service.’

‘He went on to work for the Snowtown council, and my mother and us kids tended to the home, looking after our three cows, chickens, and our dog, Jim.’

When Mrs Ormsby wasn’t busy on the farm, she attended her local school until grade seven, when she found full-time employment as a cleaner.

After a busy work week, Mrs Ormsby traded her uniform for a ball gown.

‘My friends and I would dress up in our best frocks and attend all the dances we could get to. We particularly enjoyed when there was live music—most places had a pianist back then.’

At 22-years-old, Mrs Ormsby relocated to Adelaide, where she began working in a boarding house.

‘I met my Terence then, and we married only a year later. I quit my job and we found a family home in Kilburn, where we raised our son and two daughters.’

Mr and Mrs Ormsby made the move to Murray Bridge 25 years later, when it was just the two of them.

‘We weren’t big travellers, although we enjoyed a trip to Melbourne and Perth once. We were happy to stay home and watch the footy and cricket together.’

Now, Mrs Ormsby resides at Resthaven Murray Bridge, where she continues her love of spectating.

On reaching her milestone birthday, Mrs Ormsby says, ‘I don’t have any secret to health and longevity, I just wake up in the morning, and live life as it comes—you have to let things happen as they will.’

Although she doesn’t have any tips on reaching 100 years old, she does have a message to ‘the young ones’, ‘Let them work it out like we did!’

Many happy returns, Mrs Ormsby!