Milestone birthday for Olive, aged 102
A Wombourne resident who helped with the UK’s World War II effort has celebrated her 102nd birthday.
Olive Yarsley spent her birthday surrounded by her large family.
Olive has been living in Maywood, a ShireLiving Extra Care Scheme run by The Wrekin Housing Group since it opened nine years ago. She was presented with flowers and cards by her neighbours and staff on her big day.
Olive says her secret to a long life is her good genes. She also keeps an active social life with the help of her family and visits her favourite pub in the nearby village of Bobbington every week.
Born off King Street in Dudley in 1922, Olive grew up with her younger sister and two cousins that her mother adopted after Olive’s aunt died.
She said: “If anything went wrong it was always me! I was very quiet really.”
Olive has spent her whole life living and working in and around the area. She has happy memories of her time at Sir Claughton School in Dudley, which closed in 1990.
She said: “I loved school. I used to get there early in the morning before the teachers arrived. There used to be an open fire and I can still remember the smell of Hyacinths coming through the window. It was just wonderful. I used to really like drama – but I’m not a drama queen! One play we performed was the Merchant of Venice. I used to sing at school too and in the church choir”
Olive worked from a young age, travelling on her own to Birmingham every day. At the age of 14 she would take the bus, tram and train to the jewellery quarter to work as a handpress operator.
When the Second World War began Olive, like many women, were recruited by local munitions factories.
She said: “We used to make the shell casings that went on the end of the bomb. They were brass but very heavy. They had to be smooth so my job was to polish them up. I remember we all had a big knees-up when the War ended. All the streets did on D-Day.”
It was whilst working in the factory that she met her husband, Baden. The couple got married in 1943 and had their first daughter, Vicky, in 1944. However, Baden was posted to India before she was born. Vicky was three years old when Baden was finally able to return home.
The couple went on to have two more children, 5 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Olive welcomed her first great-great grandson last year.
Asked what her favourite decade has been, Olive says the 1940’s.
She said: “My husband made a car with a soft top roof. I would help him with the sewing. We had some fun driving around everywhere. Those were the best years.”
Stephanie Warner, Service Manager at Maywood says:
“All our team would like to wish Olive a very happy birthday. At 102, Olive still enjoys an incredibly independent life, needing just two short care visits from our team a day. We will always be on hand to help wherever we can. We are here to make sure all our residents can live as independently as possible and have a fulfilling life.”
Maywood is a ShireLiving retirement complex in Wombourne, run by The Wrekin Housing Group. The complex is purpose built for people over the age of 55 with a host of facilities and onsite support designed to enhance independence. To find out more about life at Wrekin’s ShireLiving scheme – visit www.shireliving.co.uk
11th January 2024