Lena reaches 100
For Lena Botha, always having something to look forward to, staying positive and having a strong relationship with God are all great secrets to reaching 100 years of age.
Botha celebrated her century on February 18, with family and friends at her daughter’s Morehill home.
It was a day filled with love, laughter and cake.
Botha, a Morehill resident, was born in 1916 in Maclear, a small town in the Eastern Cape.
She married her husband, Louw Botha, in 1938, when she was 22. They were married for 62 years until he died in 2000.
The couple moved to Rynfield in 1958.
Botha raised a daughter, Loulene Grove, a retired special education teacher, and has two grandsons, Lourens Grove, a lawyer at the University of Pretoria and Jean Grove, an architect who works in Lephalale.
Her only granddaughter, Jacqueline Grove, is a teacher at Woodlands International College.
While her husband worked as a colonel in the South African Police Service, the stay-at-home mom would spend her time making clothes and taking care of her family.
Botha’s family said that, in her younger days, the centenarian loved to dance and enjoyed participating in charity events, preparing tea tables.
At 100 years old, Botha enjoys sport and is a strong supporter of the Springboks and the Proteas.
Although she does not watch movies, she enjoyed reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Her granddaughter, Jacqueline, expressed her delight on Botha’s 100th birthday.
“It’s wonderful to still have my grandma around, someone who always loves you and believes in you regardless of what happens,” she said.
“She has shown me how a woman can be strong while exuding beauty and gentleness and that it is never okay to look down on people, because there is something good in everyone.”
Even at her age, the inspirational woman is still the matriarch of the family and is considered the glue that keeps everything and everyone together.
