Dancing, a happy disposition with a pragmatic approach to life and supportive family and friends are attributes for a long life according to Tarragal Manor resident, Olga Hird, who is looking forward to celebrating her 100th birthday on 11th September.

Olga Rose Newby left school at 14 to work as a machinist and give support to her widowed mother. Not surprisingly it was at a dance in Balmain that she met her future husband Lewis  who, after spending five years as a POW in Europe, returned to marry Olga in November 1946.

They moved to Gladesville in 1954 and raised four children, before retiring to Woy Woy on the Central Coast where they continued their love affair with dance at Ettalong’s Senior Citizen’s club.

Following Lewis’ tragic death from Alzheimer’s Disease in 2000, Olga has continued to dance well into her nineties despite hip replacement surgery at 96 years of age and again at 98.

A resident at Tarragal Manor since 2015, Olga plans to celebrate her special milestone with family, friends and fellow residents.