A great-grandmother who lived almost totally independently until just a few months ago has celebrated her 105th birthday. Winifred Thomas who turned 105-years-old on June 7 2022 celebrated the milestone in Regency House Care Home in Cardiff.
The great-grandmother who worked as an administrator for Gwent Police before retiring spent her early years in Canton before moving to Penhill Road, Pontcanna, spent the day celebrating with her closest family members. But one bash is not enough for such a milestone, with the family looking forward to a larger party on the weekend.
Mrs Thomas, whose maiden name was Hughes, was born in 1917 near Tonypandy before her family moved to Cardiff a year later. She attended Canton High School.
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One of four sisters, Mrs Thomas who survived World War II remembers the start of the conflict in 1939 and witnessed the bombing of the beautiful structure of Llandaff Cathedral during the blitz.
Describing his mother, 75-year-old Kevin Thomas said: "She has been a musician and a singer all of her life. Music has been her life," he spoke about how his mother led choirs and ladies groups throughout her life.
However, despite her career starting out in Woolworths aged 15, before moving onto clerical work and working as an administrator for Gwent Police before retiring, family has always been her most important achievement.
"Family has been the bedrock, she has always been very family orientated," said Mr Thomas. Mrs Thomas lived with her husband until he sadly died in 1998.
Since then , she spent over 20 years living family independently in sheltered accommodation before moving to a nursing home in October 2021 aged 104. Mr Thomas said, "She was doing really well, she had carers in until she started to need more and more nursing care when her health started to fail."
"She''s mentally still very alert, although physically she can't do much now. For all of her life she has only had hearing in one ear, and now that is down to only half hearing. So it can be difficult to communicate sometimes, but when she is engaged, she's great."
Mrs Thomas and her family celebrated the milestone on her birthday with a small tea, with a larger party planned for Saturday, June 11 which will feature her wider family and friends. As well as her two children, Mrs Thomas has four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Speaking of all of the celebrations Mr Thomas said, "she's loving it. As with most people, she is enjoying being appreciated. With the jubilee celebrations last week we are continuing them - although the Queen is a young girl compared to her."
As is customary, Mrs Thomas received a letter from her majesty on her 100th birthday, and again on her recent milestone. From now on in she will receive an annual acknowledgment.
Speaking of the last memorable celebration Mr Thomas said, "I remember her 100th birthday, we had a party and there was singing and playing the piano and she insisted on getting up and playing herself. I think she would still have a go at playing on this birthday if she could."
