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Rose Cowley celebrated her 102nd birthday surrounded by friends, residents and staff at Trillium Court Seniors' Community, Kincardine, Tuesday afternoon.

Born in Toronto on March 1, 1909, she married at the age of 25 and moved to Kitchener with her husband, Colin Cowley.

They were married for 35 years and she has a son, Doug Cowley, who lives in Kincardine, as well as two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

She moved to Kincardine when she was 95 to be closer to her son and family. "He found me a nice apartment here at Trillium Court and I've enjoyed myself ever since," she says.

She has seen a lot of changes over the past 102 years, but she remembers driving her first car when she was 30 years old.

With a bright smile on her face, Mrs. Cowley was serenaded "Happy Birthday" and cut the birthday cake for everyone to share.

"I've loved every single birthday I've had," she says. "I was born on a Sunday morning. They had to go to the church to get the doctor to deliver me. I guess March came in like a lamb that year."

She says the years have gone by so fast she didn't realize she was 102 years old.

Enjoying good health, she says her only difficulty occurred when she was expecting her son, and she came down with rheumatic fever.

"It was pretty scary," she says. "Everyone was worried about the baby but he turned out fine. He's 73 years old now."

Mrs. Cowley worked for many years for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and used to do a lot of knitting. She gave up a lot of that work when she came to Kincardine.

"I do a lot of little things now," she says. "Every day I do what I want to do."

Rose Cowley with the cake marking her 102nd birthday

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Tuesday, March 01, 2011