At 96, Olwyn McDonagh has only celebrated 24 birthdays on 29 February, but she celebrated in style last week as she was driven in a Cadillac that was just about the same age as herself.
The 1929 four-door Cadillac La Salle was a surprise birthday treat for Olwyn at Summerset’s Richmond Ranges retirement village, which she gladly climbed into with family and friends. After a few goes turning the engine over the Cadillac was ready to go, and with a wave from Olwyn in the back seat, they headed off on a quiet drive around the village.
Olwyn was born just one year ahead of the Cadillac and, while it went on to become the Motueka school bus with up to 19 kids squeezed into it before taking life quietly, she continues to lead a busy life at 96 and still drives her own car.
Her leap-year birthdays are the celebrations she remembers the most, including her “21st” when she was 84 that brought many of her family together.
Today she has three daughters, 10 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
Through 96 years – or 24 leap-year birthdays – there have been five monarchs from the reign of George V and the world has changed somewhat, but she has barely slowed down.
“I’ve had a busy life. That’s what keeps you going – the number of years has nothing to do with it; it’s in your head and in your heart.”
Life has been varied as well, from a fruit and vegetable garden and shop to being a lip-reading tutor for the hearing association and being appointed to the health consumer service. Then there is her artwork which was on display at the village through her birthday week, with pictures from her school days right through to her recent work.
Though she loved art at school, her three daughters had grown up and left home before she began to paint again. Her creative side has many facets, which enabled her to ice her own three-tiered wedding cake as well as many other wedding cakes through the years.
Since she moved into the retirement village a couple of years ago, she has continued to expand her artwork with new ideas.
“I do as much as I can in the village and do a lot in the hobby shed. I’m still learning; you never stop learning.”
She is now the oldest resident still living independently at the village and her daughter, Lesley, is also in the village. Like her mother, she has the desire to continue learning and so is studying for another degree.
