Freda reaches her 100-year milestone
There was great excitement at the Alan Woodrow Retirement Complex on Monday when one of the residents celebrated her 100th birthday.
Freda Botes enjoyed a delightful afternoon with residents and management of the complex, who organised a special birthday celebration for her.
Freda was born in Pretoria on August 31, 1915, and was one of nine children.
She was named after an uncle who died in the First World War and her parents stuck with the male version of her name. She was christened Frederik Johannes, but was known as Freda.
Her mother died during childbirth when Freda was five years old and the family was living in Lydenberg at the time.
Her father, who was a mounted policeman, remarried and the children were literally farmed out to distant relatives and friends.
Freda and her youngest brother and sister wound up in Potchefstroom.
She was taken out of school at a very young age to work in a printing firm to supplement family income. She also helped her uncle to build houses as he was a brick layer.
Freda met her husband Bill, who worked as a butcher, and when he moved to Germiston she and her sister followed him.
They were married on February 14, 1936, and had three sons, Bill, Dennis and John.
Freda’s husband died in 1973 and her son Bill died of cancer in 1982.
John and his family immigrated to Toronto in 2001.
Freda has four grandchildren and one great grandson.
Dennis and Freda lived together in Witfield for many years and still are members of the Methodist Church in Witfield.
She enjoyed going to the grannies club on a weekly basis where she knitted and crocheted hundreds of baby jackets and booties to raise money for the church.
“She was an excellent gardener and worked at least four to five hours every day in her garden which she dedicated to God,” said her son, Dennis.
Dennis married Desiree in 2008 (first time marriage for both) and they look after Freda, who lives with them at Alan Woodrow Park in Dalpark.
“My mother had a stroke in 2012 which has prevented her from working in her beloved garden, reading and from communicating effectively,” said Dennis.
The petite women however refuses to use a walking stick, still has a good appetite and enjoys going out to restaurants.
Also read:
Elderly are still trapped in Tweedy Park
SAPS wants to hear from the elderly
