Whitley Bay great-great-gran marks 100th birthday and remembers running a boarding house in Tyneside
by Sam Volpe · ChronicleLiveA Whitley Bay great-great-grandmother turned 100 this weekend - and says avoiding alcohol and cigarettes had helped her hit the landmark.
Robina Johnston, known as Ruby, turned 100 on November 16. She was born in Glasgow a century ago and has lived through huge societal changes. Her granddaughter Jac Reaveley told ChronicleLive about her eventful life, including how she had come to the North East "not knowing a single person", but had soon made friends for life.
After celebrating Ruby's 100th at a party attended by more than 50 of her friends and family, Jac said: "She lived through a world war and then moving to Whitley Bay with her husband and young family, not knowing a single person in the North East.
"She says it was hard, as she reminisced walking along the sea front with her young children crying at the loneliness. However she soon grew a great network of friends and her family had grown since those lonely days, with almost 50 family members attending her party."
Jac added her "sense of humour and caring personality" were "the pinnacle of her personality", but that Ruby herself claims working hard is what has kept her young at heart.
Jac added: "When asked what's her secret to a long life, she states no alcohol, no cigarettes and hard work.
"Ruby worked all her life, from running a boarding house while simultaneously bringing up her family - 100 years of beauty, inside and out - happy birthday."
Jac added some family members had travelled from as far as Canada and Australia to celebrate with Ruby and that she had been delighted to receive a card from the King and Queen marking the occasion.
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