Margaret marks her 105th birthday
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Coleraine Mayor Councillor David Barbour, who congratulated Mrs Kee on celebrating her 105th Birthday. Also included is Mrs Kee's nieces, from left, Ann Walby, Kay Malcolm and Margaret Liggett.
ARMED with a birthday card from the Queen, one of Coleraine's oldest residents celebrated her 105th birthday in style this week, with not one, but two parties to mark the occasion.
Margaret Elizabeth Kee, born on November 17, 1903, also received a Centenarian Bounty from the President of Ireland, as she was born before the two countries separated.
Mayor of Coleraine, David Barbour, visited Coleraine's remarkable resident at the Cottage Nursing Home in Coleraine where she now lives, giving her a bouquet of flowers for her landmark birthday.
Elizabeth celebrated at the Lodge Hotel with a family party on Saturday, November 15, with a birhtday tea with her fellow residents on Monday.
When asked what it was like to be 105 years-old, Elizabeth said: "Sometimes it can be a bit boring and sometimes I just sit and think. I'm like the old man in the park who sits and thinks all day!"
Described by one of her three nieces, Kay Malcolm, as "very lively" and "very with it", Ms Kee's humorous personality is evident in all her exchanges.
Quick with a joke and even quicker with her recollections of time gone by, she described her life in great detail to the Chronicle.
Growing up in L'Derry, Elizabeth spent her school days there and trained as a nurse at technical school. Most training occurred on-hand in the hospitals when Elizabeth began her nursing career in 1930 and she spent some time learning her craft at the Royal in Belfast.
She said: "I was invited to the opening of the newly furbished hospital to meet the Prince of Wales. I met him personally. He was very chatty and asked me what date my birthday was, in case it was the same day as his."
Ms Kee later worked as a member of staff at the eye and ear hospital in the Maiden city, before taking a job as school nurse in Coleraine. "It was the first time there had been a school nurse in Coleraine," she told the Chronicle.
Another unique experience for Elizabeth was learning to drive. After years spent cycling to work in Kilrea and Garvagh, she later learnt to drive without having to study... "I didn't have to take a test," she said. "You could park anywhere you liked and there were no yellow lines!"
Elizabeth did have to take her test at a later stage when she moved to Australia to work and succeeded in obtaining her licence with no difficulty.
She told the Chronicle: "I've done a lot of travelling in the world. I spent many years in Australia and some years in Canada."
Elizabeth moved to Australia following the death of her mother and her husband and worked there as a private nurse for seven years before returning home to Northern Ireland. She said she "never found it too hot", despite also spending time doing house keeping during her stay.
On returning to the Province she subsequently secured a flat at Rathene Fold, where she lived for the next 20 years. She then moved into the Cottage Nursing Home in Coleraine just after her 100th birthday and has been there ever since. She told the Chronicle: "I love it here and I'm very happy. I realise how fortunate I am to be here."
Still a lively woman at 105, Elizabeth told the Chronicle she enjoyed cooking when she was married and lived on her husband's farm.
Marrying Strabane-born Jim in February 1950 at Portstewart's Methodist Church, Elizabeth recalled her wedding day with fondness. "It was a great day." she said.
“I met my husband so long ago and I knew him for a long time before I married him. Jim was a farmer and we lived in a farmhouse 10 or 12 miles from Coleraine. He did mixed farming but I wasn't 'in' with the milking. I reigned in the kitchen."
Elizabeth's specialties included wheaten biscuits and bread and she still enjoys her food today, often dining with her nieces, Kay Malcolm, Anne Walbey and Margaret Liggett at the Lodge Hotel.
She said: "I depend tremendously on my nieces. They support me so wonderfully that I cannot praise them enough. They keep me supplied with everything I need and with company when I need it."
As Elizabeth told the Chronicle she can now see only "dark mist" and outlines of figures," her family network is obviously more important than ever to her. They are able to communicate things to her which she cannot see for herself and said they would be reading the story from the paper to her when it was published.
Having made it to 105 and still going strong, Elizabeth has experienced many memorable occasions throughout history, in particular, that of the Titanic.
She told the Chronicle: "I remember the sinking of the Titanic. I could see my mother holding up the Telegraph from those days. I was ten years old. I remember it well. The sort of honour that swept the country."
With her love of life, quick wit and reliable memory, Elizabeth entertains and enlivens all around her and certainly makes reaching 105 seem a little more appealing...
