Ella toasts to a century of life
Waterfall Gardens resident, Ella Baxter celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by close friends and family.
ELLA Baxter’s 100th birthday celebrations at Waterfall Gardens Retirement Village was a memorable and special event.
Baxter celWEebrated the milestone on Thursday, March 3 surrounded by close friends and family.
Born Elsie Robina Buchanan, in Rondebosch, Cape Town the middle child of five grew up in Bellville.
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She was married in 1941 to Leslie Murray Baxter. They lived in Cape Town and had two sons, Jeffrey and Gordon. The family relocated to Port Elizabeth, Durban, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Vereeniging before she moved back to Durban.
She said she has no specific hobbies other than doing crosswords and considers her secret to a long life ‘sheer luck ‘.
Her son, Gordon, said he was proud and honoured to get the opportunity to speak at his mother’s 100th birthday.
“This is a rare and special occasion,” he said.
Speaking at the birthday party, Gordon said his mother has three names, christened Elsie Robina as her parents were wanting a son who would have been named Robin, over time she became known as Ella.
“On moving to Waterfall Gardens she hit the stage, joining in the many village productions, and became known as ‘Lady Ella’. Many villagers still know her as such.
“Years ago at my parents 40th wedding anniversary my father made a speech describing my mother in many adjectives, the one that became burnt into my memory was ‘capricious’ which describes her perfectly,” said Gordon.
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Waterfall Gardens’, Colin Chaplin, said Baxter moved to the home in 2006 and is the kind of resident they want in their lovely village.
He said over the years, Baxter has stayed the same, “she is a participator, she got involved right from the start. She featured in many of our village concerts”.
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