Friends and family joined Menindee local Blanche Stephens to celebrate her 100th birthday last Friday at the Country Women’s Association (CWA) hall.
Loved ones travelled from Adelaide, Newcastle and Broken Hill to surprise Mrs Stephens on her special day.
“She was very surprised with her special day, and we cannot believe we all kept it a secret,” her daughter-in-law, Barbara Stephens, said.
They arranged for Mrs Stephens’ hairdresser to bring her to the CWA hall so that all her friends and family could surprise her.
Around 60 people came and shared the beautiful birthday cake that Petrina Williams made.
Mrs Stephens was “chuffed” to receive cards with best wishes from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and the Governor-General of Australia, David Hurley.
They congratulated Mrs Stephens on her milestone birthday.
State Member for Barwon, Roy Butler, and the Central Darling Shire Council also sent Mrs Stephens well wishes for her birthday.
Mrs Stephens was born 24 June 1922 in Merben, Victoria, where she grew up and met her husband Raymond Stephens from Broken Hill.
They married in Wentworth on 29 July 1939.
Raymond was a professional fisherman on the Murray River, and they moved on to a paddle wheeler.
The couple had two children, Raymond and Judith before they went to work on stations in South Australia.
They moved to Menindee in 1964, living in a small fisherman’s hut on Pamamaroo Lake for a few years until they bought a house and moved into Menindee.
Mrs Stephens has four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.
Congratulations, Mrs Blanche Stephens, on your 100th birthday from everyone here at the Barrier Truth newspaper.
