Sad farewell to Glenwood’s centenarian
Peggy Geithrie's family mourn her death, after a full life of 108 years.
GLENWOOD'S centenarian, Peggy Geithrie, died at her home on Friday.
Peggy, who turned 108 on 4 February was recently featured in Berea Mail and had appeared in the paper every year around her birthday after she turned 100 years old.
Peggy died at her granddaughter's home, where she has lived with Lynn and her husband Gary Roper, for the past 10 years.
“I feel very sad as my gran has lived with us for over 10 years. We used to enjoy jumping on the bus and going to town to do clothes shopping. My gran and I both loved shopping! She used to make beautiful clothes for us, and was dedicated to the Catholic Church and used to sew, crochet and bake for the church.
Gary used to tease her a lot and spar with her and finds it mind-boggling that he knew someone of that age!” said Lynn.
Peggy was born on a farm outside Kokstad on 4 February 1908, and moved to Durban at the age of 22. She met her husband, Philip, when she was 27. At the time she was working as a nanny on the Berea and met him in Mitchell Park while she was spending time with the boys in her care. Initially, she turned him down, but eventually agreed to a first date, and the romance started from there.
She is survived by two children and two stepchildren, seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.
Peggy was an avid sports fan and enjoyed reading the newspaper every day and keeping up with the news. She even had her own Facebook account!
“My gran was always the 'lady' and always dressed nicely. She lived by a quote I found while going through her things this weekend: 'The more you give, the more you get, the more you laugh, the less you fret, the more you do unselfishly, the more you live abundantly, the more of everything you share, the more you'll always have to spare, the more you have, the more you'll find, that life is good and friends are kind, for only what we give away, enriches us from day to day,” said Lynn.
The funeral will be held at the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, in Umbilo at 2pm on Friday. Lynn has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Peggy’s carer, Busi Ndlovu.
