TINE Bogaards, a resident of Huis Lena at Mooihawens in Winklespruit, celebrated her milestone 100th birthday on Friday, 9 October.
The last century has been good to Tine who was born in the Netherlands in 1915. “My mum believes staying busy her whole life has kept her in good health. Being religious, she thanks the Lord for his strength,” said daughter, Wenda Meijer of Illovo Glen.
Tine met her future husband, Henk only once while she was working in a bakery, before he moved to South Africa.
Having lived in SA for a few years, Henk communicated with Tine through letters. Both their families knew each other, but Tine lost her parents at the age of 16.
“After writing to each other for about a year, my dad asked my mum to marry him. She agreed and passed on the happy news to his parents,” said Wenda.
It took about nine months for documentation to be approved, before Tine travelled on a passenger ship to Cape Town on 11 August, 1952.
So eager was Henk to see her that when the ship docked and before the passengers could embark, he got into a little boat, rowed towards the ship, spoke to someone on board and asked them to call Tine.
She got off the ship at 11am and at 4pm the couple were married. “My dad made all the arrangements, before mum’s arrival, including securing the services of a minister and organ player. The only problem he encountered was a lack of flowers for a bouquet, as a festival was taking place in the area. He solved the problem by getting flowers from a funeral parlour.”
Due to Tine marrying Henk a few hours after her arrival in the country, a local newspaper featured their wedding.
After marriage, they settled in Swartruggens in the North West Province, where Henk was running a bakery. “Mum helped dad in the bakery. Swartruggens was a small town, very different from Amsterdam, where mum lived.”
From the North West, the couple settled in Heilbron in the Free State, where they continued with their bakery business.
Sadly, Henk died of a heart attack after they were married for only 25 years. Tine continued to run the bakery until retirement.
At the age of 80 she moved to Toti and lived in Tabor until 95, before moving to Huis Lena.
Despite her advanced age, Tine is spritely, she is able to walk on her own, but is a little hard of hearing.
“Mum keeps her mind sharp by doing brain exercises. She does maths and recites poetry. She reads the newspaper from cover to cover, has the TV on and is interested in what’s going on around the world.”
Although she has had a few health scares, she has always pulled through and is currently in good health.
To celebrate her century, there was a big family get-together in the Midlands a few weeks ago, followed by a smaller celebration at Wenda’s home.
Longevity runs in the family as Tine regularly talks to her sister, Nel (95) who lives in the Netherlands.
Tine has four children, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
