Love and hard work for 103 years
Cambridge’s Esme Ganley turned 103 recently. found out her secrets to a happy life.
Waikato woman Esme Ganley has a few pearls of wisdom to share after notching up her 103rd birthday.
‘‘Hard work never killed anyone. I’ve worked hard, but I’ve had a happy life.’’
The centenarian lives in Cambridge and has done so since she was 22-years-old.
She moved there from Morrinsville to work at St Peter’s School when it opened in 1936.
‘‘I came here to scrub floors. I thought I’d come here for two years then leave, but I met my waterloo and I ended up staying,’’ she laughed.
‘‘I went out on a blind date with him, and I’ve stayed ever since.’’
Her husband Joseph Edward Ganley was a farmer in Karapiro, but died in 1987.
The couple married in March 1937, and stayed on the Karapiro farm for a few years until they moved into Leamington where they lived for 42 years.
She said in order to have a successful marriage, partners need to respect one another and do things together.
‘‘To be honest, when you’re with someone you always need to talk to them.
‘‘Ed and I were always having discussions about things, a marriage is a double thing, not just for one person to make effort,’’ she said.
‘‘These days there are groups for women to join, and men join others and often people forget to do things together as well.’’
In 1987 Esme bought a unit in Cambridge East, which she only moved out of five months ago.
She was living alone until she was 102, but moved in to Lifecare Cambridge towards the end of 2016.
Her age doesn’t show. Esme still knits and is part of the Cambridge Knitter Knatters group.
‘‘It’s all across the land, different churches and things have different knitting groups, but we’re making rugs that go overseas for poor children in third world countries, for their beds,’’ she said.
‘‘We knit the panels, and then someone picks them up and sews them together.’’
She has been involved in the Women’s Institute at all levels, including Senior Citizens, Grey Power, RSA, Odd Fellows Lodge, Plunket and more.
She has also spent a lot of her time raising funds for groups such as the Red Cross and St John.
In her 103 years, Esme has witnessed a man landing on the moon, two World Wars and significant advances in technology.
But one of the most memorable moments for her was seeing Cambridge grow.
‘‘One day they just removed the trees along the side of the road [Victoria St] and then planted trees in the middle of the road, where they still stand today.
‘‘That’s when I thought there was something different about Cambridge,’’ she said.
Although she has lived in Cambridge for most of her life, she has travelled overseas, particularly to Australia and Vanuatu.
But the best trip she’s been on, she said, was a train journey of New Zealand, from Hamilton, around the South Island and back.
Esme was born in 1914 and was the second eldest in a family of 10.
She had four children, but unfortunately in 1964, her 20-yearold son died in a tragic racetrack accident at Paeroa.
She smoked for ‘‘only 20 years’’ but cooked healthy meals.
She has eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
Her mother was a major role model in her life and when she died at 93, she left behind 74 grandchildren.
‘‘My mother used to say, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’,’’ she said in an interview after her 100th birthday.
‘‘You do what you must for your family, and then you help other people where you can.’’
When Esme turned 100 she received a letter from Queen Elizabeth II, the Prime Minister’s office and the Minister for Senior Citizens.
But her 103rd birthday was a quiet one, surrounded by close family and friends.