Eva Gellatly, a Resident at The Moat House celebrated her 104th birthday recently.
To mark the special day, The Moat House hosted a party for Eva, which was attended by family, friends, members of the care team, and fellow Residents. A delicious cake was also prepared by the home’s chef.
As part of her celebrations of this wonderful milestone age, Eva was able to recollect her life and shared stories of her many adventures.
Born in Woolwich in 1915, Eva had a keen interest in tailoring, and she was granted a scholarship to study this. She then went on to become a clothes maker, and began creating clothes for her family.
Eva then decided to leave her role and went on to become a Nurse in Dartford, where she met her ex-husband, Eddie, who worked as a Psychiatric Nurse. Eva left this job when her daughter, Jean, was born, as she decided to stop work for a period of time, but when Jean was five years old, she began working again.
She went back into education to become a civil servant, in which, her most memorable task was to escort Penny Black stamps, the world’s first adhesive stamp used in a public postal system, to the airport as they were to be exhibited in other countries.
Later in her fifties, she decided to follow her passion for travel and archeology and praises herself for doing so independently. Her travels firstly began with Egypt, where she was able to climb the pyramids and visit many archeological sites. She then went on to visit Petra, a famous archeological site in Jordan, which she described as her favourite experience. She ended her adventure by travelling across America.
Eva’s family expanded gradually, and she now proudly has three grandchildren and six great grandchildren which she enjoys spending time with as they visit her. She credits her wonderful age to living an independent and adventurous life, alongside having such a supportive family.
Mary Joseet, Home Manager, said:
“Eva was able to tell us about a wonderful life filled with great adventures, and it was amazing to hear about everything she has accomplished.”