Elsie Sykes is one of a select few people who can say they celebrated turning 105 in style.
On Tuesday, May 20, The John Atchison Centre in Hoppers Crossing, where the very special centenarian now calls home, hosted a birthday bonanza for its oldest resident.
In the grand scheme of things, Ms Sykes is quite new to the Wyndham community.
“I lived in South Melbourne all my life, but I have been down here for three or four years, because my son moved down here,” Ms Sykes said.
But she has settled in quite nicely.
“It’s very nice here, they take me out for lunch every Sunday,” she said.
Ms Sykes had three daughters, two sons, plenty of grandchildren and some work experience that is probably hard to replicate in 2025.
“I worked at a place in South Melbourne where they used to make cigarette tins and meat tins,” Ms Sykes said.
Ms Sykes has lived through The Great Depression, the extinction of the thylacine, World War II, the Cold War, the turn of the millennium and the invention of the smart phone. Since 1920, Australia has had five monarchs, 25 prime ministers and has welcomed more than 21 million people.
While Ms Sykes claims she hasn’t lived a very interesting life, this journalist thinks otherwise.
