The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Secret of a long life – hard work and having fun
An Insch woman celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday, surrounded by family and friends from across the north.
Elsie Skene was born Elspeth Murdoch at St Mary’s Well, Aboyne, on September 28, 1914, just two weeks after Britain entered World War I.
She studied at Aboyne School until she was 13, but then left to help out at home because her mother was ill. She then started working at a barber shop, where she was given piano lessons in lieu of wages.
It was at a dance in her home town that she met Jock Skene, and the pair married on February 10, 1934.
Over the years, the couple moved from Aboyne to Lumphanan then Inverurie, before retiring to Insch. She lived in the home she shared with her husband until January this year, when she moved into a care home, aged 99, after a short spell in hospital.
The couple had 10 children together – five sons and five daughters – and her family swelled in later generations to include 25 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren, and eight great-great-grandchildren.
Sadly, she lost two children and four grandchildren over the years and, in 1993, her husband died – just a year shy of their 60th wedding anniversary.
A number of the family attended her birthday party at Drumdarroch House Care Home at Insch, where Mrs Skene was presented with her card from the Queen and a telegram from work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith. Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire James Ingleby also attended the event, and congratulated Mrs Skene for reaching the special milestone.
When asked about the secret to long life she put it down to hard work, something which she has done throughout her life.
She worked in agriculture for many years, tending farms with her husband, and making cheese and butter. On top of the long hours and often hard labour, she also brought up all of her children and even one of her grandchildren.
She had a number of hobbies to occupy her time and was particularly skilled at crafts and was able to turn her hand to various projects. She dabbled in tapestries, knitting and crocheting, creating everything from wall art to knitted Fair Isle pullovers.
As well as items for family and friends, she created many pieces to help out charitable causes, and crocheted a number of blankets to donate to the cottage hospital at Insch.
Mrs Skene also bred dogs for a number of years, and was an accomplished breeder of various types, particularly West Highland terriers and poodles.
She also had a more adventurous streak, acquiring her son’s Vespa scooter when he deemed it to be too slow, and riding to and from town on it.
And the centenarian shows no signs of letting up. As she cut her birthday cake, she told party guests: “I’m delighted to have reached 100, but I’m hoping for a few more years because I’m having fun.”