Bluff’s 91-year-old pioneer shares fond memories from yesteryear
91-year-old Cecile Jordaan moved to the Bluff in 1947 with her late husband and has wintnessed the many changes and devlopments along the friendly suburb.
A warm smile spreads across the face of Cecile Jordaan as she reminisces about the good old days as a Bluffite, on the eve of her 91st birthday on Wednesday, 6 February at her Bushlands Road home.
Cecile moved to the Bluff in 1947 with her late husband, and raised three children Naomi Schutte, Estelle Botha and Leon Jordaan. Her children have successfully bloomed in life, rewarding her with eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Through her many years on the Bluff, she has seen the suburb take shape from when Bluff Road was a sand track lined with trees and very few houses and buildings. “The Bluff was green back then, with lush trees and grass in most areas. We had a house on Shamrock Road where we spent time visiting neighbours who became like family. Trips to Anstey’s Beach were a delight for the children and my husband, who was quite the fisherman especially during the frenzy of sardine season. He enjoyed going to Cave Rock on Brighton Beach,” said Cecile.
She recalled a time when the Bluff had many tea rooms such as the Bluff Lighthouse tea room, the many little general shops, Bluff Drive-In before it became the Bluff Pick and Pay on Tara Road and the OK Bazaars at the Bluff which later became the Hub and is now the medical centre.
Cecile was also active in social programmes at the Full Gospel Church in Jacobs back in the day.
The lively and independent nonagenarian has certainly however kept up with the times, having adjusted to the vast changes in technology, from using an old-school fixed line telephone to using social media to keep in touch with her loved ones.
Although many of her friends from her youth have either died or moved from the Bluff, she still retains fond memories of her 60-year friendship with the late Martha Joubert. “We were very close and our children grew up together. She was a great companion and we never had an argument, I still miss her dearly,” she said.
She now spends most of her days doing her favourite hobby of adult colouring, in between driving herself to the local Spar. “If someone had told me years back that I would live to see 91-years of age, I probably wouldn’t have believed them, but I am truly grateful for all the years and memories, my beautiful family as well as my lovely home that is the Bluff.”
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