La Lucia centenarian celebrates milestone birthday with family

CATHERINE Turnbull’s birthday last week was certainly the biggest of the century, and she celebrated it with four generations of her family.

She welcomed in her century of life with family, music and a royal birthday card from Queen Elizabeth II at her daughter’s home in La Lucia.

(Turnbull) Cathie was surprised by visits from councillors Nicole Bollman and Rory Macpherson and 100 learners from La Lucia Junior Primary School, who sang Happy Birthday to her as well as the school song and blessing.

She also enjoyed some sherry and cake with friends and family, which also involved a bagpiper who played Happy Birthday and Flower of Scotland, the national anthem of Scotland, where Turnbull was born in August 30, 1922.

“Everything has been such a surprise. My daughter, Morag, and grandson, Craig, worked for months in secret to make this the most special birthday. I can’t find the right words to express my delight, which is unusual because I’ve always been known for expressing my opinion,” she quipped. “Of course, nothing can beat family, and being surrounded by my family from all over the world was incredibly special. My first grandchild arrived unexpectedly from the UK, and that was also a special surprise.”

Turnbull has 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren spread across three continents.

She also thanked the learners from La Lucia Junior Primary for making her day that much more memorable.

“I really didn’t expect that. It was a lovely surprise, and I loved hearing them serenade me on my special day. My daughter, Morag, was the former school principal for 24 years, and they decided to honour me in such a wonderful way,” she said.

Her family also organised a number of special gifts, including a book entitled Super Gran 100 chronicling her life from birth to her 100th birthday.

The image on the book is also symbolic as Turnbull is known for wearing gloves with her outfits.

Another special gift was a binder containing 100 emails from family and friends for 100 years.

To keep in touch with her global family, she learned to use a computer at age 90 to correspond with them via email.

Turnbull has also written two books for her family, recording her life and sharing her research of her family tree.

In her spare time, Turnbull is a seamstress, baker, knitter, hat maker and decorator of cakes.

Turnbull also shared some of her hobbies which include watching sports.

“I’m an avid reader. I do the code-cracker puzzle in the daily newspaper which keeps my mind nimble. I’m also a big sports fan; I follow cricket, tennis, rugby and golf. I’ve always had a positive attitude, and I feel that when you wake up feeling off-colour, get up, get dressed and get going, and you’ll almost always feel better,” she said.