ADA FURBY, believed to be the oldest living person in WA, celebrated her 110th birthday on July 22 at her Villa Pelletier nursing home in West Leederville.
Staff, friends, volunteers and other guests gathered to mark the occasion at the aged care facility, which is operated by Southern Cross Care.
Among those present was Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julie Bishop, who presented Ms Furby with a letter of congratulations.
Ms Furby has now joined the elite club of supercentenarians, or those whose lives have spanned 11 decades or more.
Southern Cross Care CEO Errol Turner said he was privileged to be able to share Ms Furby’s birthday with her.
“Southern Cross Care has a long and proud tradition of making a significant contribution to the well-being and quality of life of older Australians, and Ada Furby is the embodiment of this,” he said.
Ms Furby was born in England on July 22, 1903, where she lived with her father after her mother died while she was a child.
The pair travelled to Australia in 1923 for a holiday, but Ms Furby became ill in Perth and was not fit to travel back to England.
Her father took her to the Good Shepherd Convent in West Leederville (now occupied by the Catholic Education Office) to recover, before returning to England alone.
Ms Furby became an Auxiliary, helping the Sisters to tend to the girls who were in care and teaching the young women cooking and cake decorating.
One of her hobbies has been crochet and embroidery work, which was frequently recognised at the Royal Perth Show, where Ms Furby won many awards for her work.
The only other living supercentenarian in Australia is Jane Gray, who is the nation’s oldest person, at 111 years and 232 days. The world’s oldest person is a Japanese woman who turned 115 in March.