BEREA’S Ida Ezekowitz celebrated her 100th birthday at Beth Shalom on Sunday, 25 October.
Ida, who feels age is but a number, enjoyed her ‘party’ at the retirement home where residents celebrated her birthday, while family and friends as far afield as Australia, the US and Israel, joined in the festivities via a Zoom call.
“I’ve never been to a 100th birthday except for mine!” she said, adding that the amazing technology and being able to share her special day with family and friends overseas was wonderful.
Ida was featured in Berea Mail in August when she survived the Coronavirus, and she attributed this, as well as her longevity, to her strong immune system. “It’s not so unusual for people to turn 100 these days due to improved medical science and knowledge of how to fight disease. I believe it’s my strong immune system and positive outlook on life that has enabled me to live long. I don’t worry much about age, it’s more about how you feel,” she said.
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Ida was born at 13 Green Street in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. She said she had a very happy childhood as her mother Kate and her father Jacob were happy together. Ida went on to study a Bachelor of Arts in social work at the University of Cape Town, and qualified as a social work practitioner. She met her husband, Kalman, at Muizenberg beach when she was a student, and they hit it off straight away.
“We married during war time, and it was fate as he was supposed to board a ship to Egypt but at the last minute it was decided that his regiment would guard the camp in Pietermaritzburg. We stayed there for the rest of the war. We waited to have children and our son, Michael, was born in 1948. Carol was born a couple of years later, and then our youngest, Alan was born,” she said.
The couple were happily married for 48 years. Ida is very proud of her children, and said Michael, a doctor, is regarded in the top one per cent of researchers in the world, and Alan is a medical specialist. They both live in the US, and Ida is currently staying with Carol at Beth Shalom.
Ida has four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Ida has always enjoyed writing and has written many articles as well as a book, Son of a Stranger. She mentioned she would like to write about her life as well as how things have changed over the years.
“I have lived through terrific change in medical science and technology which I would like to document,” she said. Ida also enjoys gardening and gym.
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At her party, she made a speech where she thanked her parents and husband for many happy years, staff at Beth Shalom for taking care of her when she was sick with the Coronavirus, her children for taking such good care of her, as well as Sarah Ludick, a social work practitioner, for shopping for her birthday outfit.
“My sons are both well-known cricketers, so I thought I would show them that I could also score 100, and when I start my second innings, I will start making more runs towards my next century,” she said.
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