The year 1920 brought so much to the world.
It was a year where international feats became revolutionary, like the rise of the League of Nations and a conglomerate of allied powers promised peace after the First World War.
In the early days of flying, 1920 marks the first flight from London to South Africa totalling 45 days.
But for Olga Page, one of WA’s oldest residents, it was the year she was born, and today she is still able to enjoy her birthday with loved ones at the age of 105.
Born in 1920, the Byford resident spent six years of her younger life on her grandfather’s orchid in Bedfordale before her family relocated to Armadale where she lived for sixty-five years.
In her younger years Olga met Gordon Page, of Mt Nasura, at a vineyard where he worked. Gordon was originally from Toodyay and relocated to Olgas family home in Armadale.
Olga and her husband Gordon tied the knot in 1942; he served in Darwin during World War II, Gordon returned home to his wife and settled in to his new role as a beekeeper, while Olga was his assistant.
The beekeeping role kept Olga busy as her duties where to cut off the wax from cones while Gordon clarified the wax using extraction techniques.
Olga and Gordon and their two children Elva and Colin relocated to Donnelly River for six months to finish a beekeeping job the pair had worked on.
Olga was known as a woman of many talents, having being a self-taught dressmaker, tailoring outfits for her children and sewing garments for extended family and friends.
Olga amazed her friends and family by creating a bridesmaid dress for her daughter Elva Turners’ wedding.
In 1988, Olga sold the family home when she lost her husband Gordon.
The three-quarter acre block in Armadale was left behind along with memories of raising her childing and her beautiful life with them. Olga has such a strong spirit that she was living independently until the she was 103.
Her daughter Elva reflected on her mother’s birthday celebration held at BaptistCare Graceford; a day that is filled with her being around people that she is close to.
“It was such a special experience celebrating my mum with all her friends,” she said.
Not only is Olga a centenarian but an avid footy fan tipping for the dockers, her favourite team.
Some other key moments in Olga’s birth year included: –
The Kelmscott train station was commissioned, Beenup township was renamed Byford and Seafourth Salvation Army Boys’ Home was established. It later became a home for young men living with intellectual disabilities. Also, in that year Pope John Paul II was born, the 19th Amendment adopted (guaranteeing women the right to vote in the United States) and Australia was still in its last three years of the great depression.
