Four hundred and two – this rather large number is the combined age of four Rand Aid Association residents who attended a tea party in their honour on 14 June.
The oldest is 101-year-old Kira du Plessis , a resident of Thembalami Care Centre who was born on 29 March 1915 – smack bang in the middle of the WWI.
Just two months younger than du Plessis is Grace Snook, who still lives independently at Tarentaal retirement village. She is well-known for her zest and amazing sense of humour. Snook was born on 18 May, 1915.
Third oldest is Minnie Sterling, a resident of Elphin Lodge who was born on 25 January, 1916; and the baby of the group is Betty Haughton, a Ron Smith Care Centre resident born on 19 April, 1916.
Rand Aid CEO Rae Brown said at the tea party that he was tempted to call the four, ‘grand ladies’, but given that a grand was one thousand, they were only 10 percent on their way to earning that title. “You have lived through the most dramatic times,” he said.
One hundred years ago, the world literacy rate was only 23 percent, women were not allowed to vote, the average life expectancy for men was about 48 years and Johannesburg was only 30 years old.
