THE OLDEST WOMAN IN WALES DIES AGED 110
A WOMAN who was believed to o be the oldest person living in n Wales has died at the age of f 110. Born on August 29, 1906, Mrs Jenkins’’ first name was Florence but she preferred to be called Milly. She lived through two world wars and could even n remember the sinking of the Titanic inn 1912.
She died surrounded by her family on n November 13 after secondary pneumo- nia.
Mrs Jenkins’ husband Amos Gordon passed away 31 years ago, and the couple had two sons, Denis and Alan.
From Garndiffaith, she had nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.
Mrs Jenkins left home aged just 14 to go and work in London as a housekeeper for a doctor and his wife, sending money back home to her family in Wales.
She later worked in a munitions factory in Wales during World War II.
Three of her eight siblings, three brothers and five sisters, also lived past the age of 100, and granddaughter Elaine Thomas said her grandmother was made of “hardy stuff”.
Elaine said: “When she was about 98, she fell down the stairs and broke her hip.
“She dragged herself outside into the garden, and because it was winter there was snow on the ground.
“She fell into the snow, but luckily her neighbours found her.
“The doctors said she wouldn’t pull through, but she did. She was a tough little lady.”
Because her husband was never a fan of holidaying abroad, it wasn’t until Mrs Jenkins was 82 that she went on her first foreign trip.
Elaine,El i 52,52 said:id “When “Whh she was 82 sheh went on her first holiday to Malta.
“After that she couldn’t get enough of it.”
Elaine said her grandmother never seemed her age, and Mrs Jenkins stayed active right throughout her later years.
Elaine said: “She went to her first keep fit class at 80, but she decided not to go any more because she said all the others there were too old. “She never seemed her age.” Elaine added: “Milly was active and healthy throughout most of her life, but one day on a Friday in her care home she said she wasn’t feeling 100%.
“The doctors thought she might just have a little bit of an infection.
“By the Tuesday she said she didn’t want anything to eat, and the minute I knew she didn’t want anything to drink I knew that wasn’t good.
“She spent four days in bed. When she passed away it was absolutely peaceful.
“I remember saying to her, ‘Do you want to join grandad?’, and she just nodded.
“If you wanted a peaceful ending to a life then that was it.” Mrs Jenkins’ funeral was on Friday. She was buried at Panteg cemetery in New Inn, Pontypool, alongside her husband.