Smiling at 101

Solly and Sylvia Jossel celebrated their special day on 13 August, just over a month after celebrating Solly’s birthday.

Born in Poland, Solly was orphaned at the tender age of six when his mother sent him to the Ochberg Orphanage. There, Solly was part of a random lottery that decided which 200 of the 400 children at the orphanage would sail for South Africa. Solly was selected and was sent to Johannesburg.

Strangely, there weren’t any Jewish orphanages in the area, so the children were put into an old-age home. During a community event at the home, Solly saw a woman who resembled his mother. He clung to her dress and wouldn’t let her go, even when evening came and it was time for dinner. This woman fell for the little boy, and she adopted him then and there.

Unfortunately, at the age of 17, his adopted family told Solly they could no longer support him because they had hit hard times. He found himself a job as a dispatch clerk at a wholesale firm where he worked for five years. During his time there he studied during the night and completed a BCom.

Solly found a job at a concession store in Springs as their bookkeeper, but was not destined for work in the financial world. He soon found himself working for a charity in Springs before becoming the deputy mayor of what was at that time a small town.

When asked how he met Sylvia, Solly’s face lights up, and the 101-year-old is transported back to his 20s. His first glimpse of Sylvia came one morning when he was on his way to work from the Lion Hotel in Springs. His friend pointed out a girl in uniform while they were waiting for their lift.

“That’s a nice girl,” Solly remembers himself saying.

“You know, she isn’t Christian,” said his friend. “She’s a Jewish girl.”

Three days later, Solly was at a ball that he had organised for the Russian Prisoners Aid Association, a charity that he worked with as deputy mayor.

Sylvia was also at the ball, and came up to him complaining that it was cold at her table. Solly remedied the situation and the pair got talking. Contact details were exchanged, and three days later Solly asked Sylvia out.

She told him that she was busy, and after this happened a few times he suggested they just forget about the whole thing.

“Ask me, in time I’ll come,” Solly recalls Sylvia saying. He asked again and, indeed, Sylvia accepted.

Some time passed and the two became close friends. Eventually, in 1944, Solly asked Sylvia to marry him, and the rest is history.

Today, the couple has 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Solly said he is still very much in love with his wife, and that they never really left the honeymoon phase.

His advice to those looking for longevity? “Love your wife and look after your children and grandchildren in the same way you look after yourself.”