DURBAN North resident Wendy Munro, recently celebrated her 95th birthday. Despite being blind the spritely elder still has her health and was thrilled to share her exciting life with the Northglen News last week.

Munro was born and raised in Scotland. It was only at the end of the Second World War that she was able to voyage to South Africa.

“My cousin, who grew up in South Africa, had been a prisoner at war in Italy, after he was captured in Tobruk. At the end of the war he was repatriated through Scotland. He decided to visit us on his way back to his home country and invited me to come with him. I accepted on a whim,” she said.

The adventurous Munro stayed in South Africa for two years, enjoying the social life it had to offer, before she decided to head back home. Little did she know that she would meet her future husband, Fred Munro, on her return voyage.

“We were both sailing from Durban – I was headed to South Hampton and he was on his way to Cape Town to complete his engineering degree. We started a conversation and bonded over our five-day trip on the boat. Afterwards we regularly corresponded with letters and continued our friendship,” she said.

In 1949 – two years later – Munro returned to South Africa and within three months of her return the couple was married.

Fred, who was employed by the department of water affairs, had been involved in the construction of several monumental South African dams, including the Midmar Dam in Howick and the Bloemhof Dam in the Free State.

Over the years she and their four boys travelled all over the country with him as he assisted with the contraction of the dams.

“It has been a great life. I have just always taken it one day at a time. I don’t believe I have done anything special. I have just been blessed with good health,” she said when asked what she thought was the secret to her longevity.

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