Turning 100 is a big deal, and for Glengara Retirement Village resident Marjorie Male notching up a century will be an especially momentous occasion.
Marjorie celebrating her 100th birthday with close family and friends
A special milestone
The much-loved Marjorie is about to become the first Glengara resident to reach 100 at the village.
Marjorie, affectionately known as Marj, is well-known at the village where she has enjoyed living for the past 18 years, and most days can be found out having tea and going for walks with her friends.
A birthday celebration is planned, with 170 Glengara residents to celebrate Marj’s special milestone at an afternoon tea at Glengara’s Country Club on Friday 11 February, which will be attended by local state member David Mehan. There will be a beautiful birthday cake, although a fire extinguisher may be needed to help blow out all the candles!
Marj will return to the club for a lunch on Saturday 12 February, her actual birthday, to celebrate with close family and friends.
An interesting life
Born in Tamworth, Marjorie Ellen Male (nee Scott) has led an interesting life. She’s lived through World War II, the Korean War and Great Depression, and experienced Australian life before electricity, TV and talkback radio.
Marjorie grew up in a farmhouse that wasn’t connected to electricity until 1932. When she was a young child, her family used Aladdin lamps for light and ice chests for refrigeration.
Marjorie’s father farmed wheat and sheep, and although her family was self-sufficient on the farm during the Great Depression they often had ‘swaggies’ come to the farm door asking to work in exchange for food.
During her primary school years, Marjorie rode a horse to the Currabubula School which was 8kms from the family farm. To attend high school in Tamworth, she was driven 2.5km to an unmanned railway station and, alongside her two cousins, would flag down the steam train by waving a disc to catch the driver’s attention.
She studied at the Tamworth Metropolitan Business College and worked at the Commonwealth Bank until she married Jim Male on March 18, 1944.
Marjorie met and fell in love with Jim when he was based at Tamworth during World War II, and they had three children together.
They enjoyed 30 wonderful years in Wollongong, where Jim was a bank branch manager. After Jim had a couple of falls at their two-storey home they realised it was time to move to more suitable accommodation.
Calling Glengara home
They had just spent Christmas at Wamberal and visited a friend who lived at Glengara Retirement Village, and decided it suited them down to the ground. They moved into a villa in 2004 and made new friends together. Marjorie has seen Glengara transform over the years, with the construction of the Country Club, care apartments and more villas. She is the first resident to turn 100 while living there.
Asked how she feels about her big milestone, Marjorie said:
