One of Stroud District Council’s oldest tenants celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday.
Dorothy Wilkins was born in Tuakau, New Zealand to British parents and moved to Whiteshill, in the Stroud district, aged nine. She has lived in Callowell, Uplands and Bisley, from where she would regularly walk to Stroud and back.
Her first job was at Bell & Co, a ladies and children’s clothing store in Stroud, earning half a crown a week, and during the Second World War worked for the fire service based at Lansdown in Stroud.
Dorothy, along with her sister, aged 98, now lives at Stroud District Council’s Independent Living Unit, Grove Park Road in Uplands, Stroud.
She credits the secret to her long life to “doing what you want to do,” and said she was looking forward to receiving a card from Her Majesty The Queen.
Stroud District Council’s Independent Living Manager Lynne Mansell visited Dorothy the day before her 100th birthday and presented her with a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the council.
Dorothy celebrated her big day with friends and relatives, and a residents’ party.
