A glance into the life of a grand lady

PHYLLIS Hilda Bray of Graceland Nursing Home reached the phenomenal milestone of 100 years this Wednesday, March 2. Mrs Bray, as she is affectionately known around the nursing home, was born in 1922, soon after the first World War.

She was raised at an orphanage in Pretoria. There she made lifelong friends and grew up to be an intelligent young woman. The nuns from the orphanage saw her potential and found her a nursing position at The Lady Dudley Hospital in Johannesburg.

She met her husband Wally while on holiday in Scottsburgh and soon after, they married in 1943. Their first child, Maureen was born four years later while the couple was residing in Krugersdorp. The following year the family moved to Northern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), a region known for its rich copper ore deposits.

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The Brays lived happily in Zimbabwe until 1986, going on to have two more children, a daughter named Joan and a then a son named Eddy, both born in Mufularia. Her children describe her as an adventurous mother, “She was a master angler and certainly had the touch. She loved to feed the fish eagles, which was dad’s favourite bird,” said Maureen. “One day she put the little fish on top of her head on her hat, an eagle swooped down and took the fish, along with her hat and flew off. She shouted at the bird to bring the hat back! And surprisingly it circled around and dropped her hat at her feet.”

The family lived for the free life of the wilderness in Northern Zimbabwe. Upon returning to South Africa, the pair toured the country in their camper van, with their VW Beatle and boat in tow until finally settling in the Bluff.

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Her husband sadly passed away, eleven years ago, at the age of 92. After experiencing minor health issues she shared her time with her daughters until two and a half years ago when it became necessary for her to move to Graceland Nursing Home, where she is lovingly cared for. According to Phumzile Ngobo, a staff nurse at Graceland, Mrs Bray is gentle and happy.

“She does her makeup every day, she still likes to look good and she is very close with her family. Her daughter visits her every day.” According to her daughters, the centenarian has no intentions of going anywhere soon.

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