Alma Celebrates 100 Years

LAST Friday a nine year old boy asked to visit Alma Lennon because he wanted to see what someone who was 100 years old looked like.

“I just wondered what he expected to see,” laughed Ms Lennon.

“I thought it was funny,” she said.

Alma Lennone holding her birthday well wishes from the Queen.

Alma celebrated her 100th birthday last Friday in Scone and joked that she was glad she made it.

“When I woke up I thought ‘oh golly thanks goodness I woke up this morning,” she laughed.

Alma Nancarrow Lennon was born in Gosford in 1917 and has seen many changes throughout her life.

“I look at things on the television and I think am I in this world or another one, it is so strange,” she said.

“I saw the invention of television and we used to have steam trains at Gosford and I saw the electricity line come in at Gosford and saw the Prince of Wales when he was on the back of the train in Gosford” she said.

When she was in her 60’s she wanted to continue working and had to lie about her age.

“I decided I was too young to retire so I put my age back to work at Myer’s in Carlingford so I could work for another few years, so when I left there I was more than 65 but they didn’t need to know,” she said.

Alma then moved to Scone, 37 years ago, to help raise her grandchildren and attributes her longevity to playing plenty of sport.

“I don’t know there is a secret, I just believe in being sensible about life, I believe in eating good food, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, well I did smoke but I gave that away,” she said.

“I smoked until I came up here and Michelle, who was five, told me she didn’t like the smell of my clothes, so I stopped,” she laughed.

“I did lots of activities and that is half the reason I’m so strong I think, I swam and I ran and I played tennis, I married a tennis coach who taught me to play a bit better and we played competition, then I did surfing and it has just been one activity after the other, going out to the clubs, doing some charity work and just lived a normal life,

Alma had three children, Lorraine who passed away, another daughter Jan and her son Barry.

She also has 8 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.