Gladys Krajcinger celebrated her 100th birthday in style. With fruit cake and a glass of champagne.
The great-great grandmother has been a resident at Uniting AgeWell Latrobe Community Strathdevon for the last six years, and hit her three digit milestone on 18 April. Two parties were organised for her by her large family and she was excited about both.
“It doesn’t really feel very different to be turning 100 though,” she says. “I’m just the same really. I’m doing well and I’m very happy and content here.”
Gladys attributes her longevity to eating lots of vegetables and exercising. Over the years she was a champion tap dancer and also a very good swimmer and runner.
Until recently she used to walk around the gardens at Strathdevon, but lately uses the wheelchair.
“I loved gardening,” she says. “I used to grow flowers as well as veggies.”
She also enjoys playing bingo, and attending happy hour and BBQ lunches.
Gladys was born in Queenstown in Tasmania, and spent the latter half of her life in Devonport. Her identical twin sister died at the age of 88 and Gladys, who swears the pair never played practical jokes on anyone, still misses her. She also has a 95-year-old sister who lives in Adelaide.
Gladys describes her years raising her three children and working in clerical jobs as “busy”.
“Mum always loved cooking roast lamb on Sundays,” recalls one of her sons, Dallas.
Gladys says of all the inventions created during her lifetime, the one that was most useful was the washing machine. Not surprisingly. She recalls how she had to boil her children’s nappies in a pot to wash them.
The other invention she was pretty excited to welcome into her life was television. “I loved watching The Waltons,” she explains.