DOROTHY Shipton is celebrating her 100th birthday on Wednesday 1 November with daughters Valerie and Elizabeth joining her to raise a cuppa in their mother’s honour.

Living quietly and comfortably at St Joseph Aged Care in Coffs Harbour, the staff are putting on a cake.

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“We’ll mark Mum’s century simply, which is fitting for her,” daughter Valerie told News Of The Area.

Dorothy hails from Windsor, where she was born onto her parents’ rural property.

“Her father ran a poultry farm and had an orange orchard.”

During the Second World War she did war work including welding, packing eggs up for transportation and packing spam into cans to be sent to the troops overseas.

She also completed a dressmakers course at Sydney Tech during this time.

“She met dad at the end of WWII and they married in 1945.

“After the Army, dad was working as a farm hand so country life continued as a couple.”

Dorothy was mum to three children with Alan coming first in 1946, who sadly passed in later life.

Valerie came along in 1948 and Elizabeth in 1953.

The family moved around rural NSW in various farm jobs.

“Mum had a green thumb,” said Valerie, “she could get everything to grow and loved being in the garden.

“Dad grew the veggies and mum the flowers.”

A hard worker, Dorothy always had the radio on around the house, but her favourite downtime pastime was watching Joe the Gadget Man on television.

“She also loved Graham Kerr’s cooking show, The Galloping Gourmet, and I still laugh remembering a line she loved: as he was cooking with sherry Graham would say something like ‘a slurp for the pot, a slurp for the cook’,” said Valerie.

While frail these days, Dorothy is in great health, taking just a panadeine a day, and is happily content in her very quiet life.

Extended family will join the cake-and-cuppa celebration via Zoom.

Many happy returns Dorothy on your 100th birthday.

By Andrea FERRARI