'NO SECRET' TO LONG LIFE
Elsie King has kept on ‘‘keeping on’’ for 100 years.
The centenarian entered the triple-digit club on Saturday and celebrated with about 90 guests at an afternoon tea held in her honour at New Plymouth’s Summerset Mountain View Retirement Village.
The resident is the first to turn 100 while living at the home, which opened two years ago, and so staff and fellow residents were rightfully excited to celebrate the double milestone. While King looked forward to reuniting with friends and family at the party, she remained modest about meeting an age most could only hope for.
King, who lived independently until she was 99, said she was frequently asked to share her secret to longevity and good health. But the mother-of-four, who in total has 27 grand and great grandchildren, said she could never offer any life changing advice.
‘‘It’s just to do nothing about it and keep on keeping on as far as I’m concerned,’’ she said.
‘‘I’ve never thought about it one way or another.’’ While King was never a smoker her daughter Sue McGrath said she did break other health rules.
‘‘She’s not keen on water, always had salt and always had cups of tea with sugar,’’ McGrath spilled.
‘‘Go home, Sue,’’ quipped King, who maintains good health and sharp wit.
King emigrated from Stoke-onTrent, England, to New Zealand with her family when she was 10.
It was during the time of assisted passage and they headed to Okaiawa, a settlement 14-kilometres north-west of
Ha¯ wera, where there was work in the cheese factory for her father.
When she left school she worked at the local store, where she met her husband, John (Jack) King, a local farmer.
The pair were made life members of the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust about 20 years ago and she was also a dedicated president of both the Okaiawa and South Taranaki Women’s Institute through the 50s and 60s.
‘‘I’ve always had hobbies and stuff to do,’’ King, who was a keen tennis and netball player, as well as a crafter, said.
Of the past 10 decades, King said her best years were in the 40s and 50s - when she had her children.
‘‘The kids had the run of the farm.’’
She lives with no regrets, saying she takes everything day by day.
‘‘Everything’s been quite comfortable for me.
‘‘My greatest achievement was probably having a family, I had to take the rough edges off.’’