Hazel Donald proudly shows off a photo of herself and her sister Dorothy (in green) that sits by her bedside.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Hazel Donald has seen plenty of changes in the world during her 102 years.
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She was a child during the Great Depression, has lived through a world war, saw the introduction of television and refrigerators, as well as cars to most households, also the invention of computers, and in more recent times, has lived through a global pandemic.
She has also seen Shepparton grow hugely over the years, and can remember moving here when it was only a small town.
“Things are different,” Miss Donald said.
Miss Donald was born in Numurkah on June 28, 1923, to William and Edith Donald who lived on a dairy farm at Katamatite.
Hazel Donald celebrated her 102nd birthday.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
She was a younger sister to Dorothy, four years her senior, who she retained a close bond with all her life.
A framed photo of the two sisters still sits proudly beside Miss Donald’s bed in her room at Shepparton Villages’ Banksia Lodge.
Miss Donald had a stint living at Strathmerton, and she lived in Melbourne three times, but it is Shepparton she has lived in for most of her life.
She remembers moving to live on the corner of Corio and Nixon Sts in the 1930s, and can also remember when the family had an orchard near where Fairleys IGA now is.
She also remembers visiting her great uncle in Shepparton and having holidays with her auntie in town when she was young.
With many different jobs over the years, Miss Donald remembers fondly working on the telephone switchboard above the old Shepparton post office with her sister.
She also worked at post offices in Strathmerton and Melbourne over the years.
Miss Donald also recalled working at a butcher shop for 24 years, and also spent time as a bookkeeper.
While no inventions during her lifetime really stood out to her, Miss Donald said she still remembers when she was growing up on the farm that they did not have refrigeration – instead using an ice-chest.
Hazel Donald celebrated her 102nd birthday with her extended family with a lunch at the Shepparton Club.
The man who used to collect the cream from the dairy each day would also bring them ice for their ice-chest.
In her younger days, Miss Donald enjoyed sewing and dressmaking, and for 18 or 20 years, she was part of the choir at Shepparton’s Scot’s Church.
These days she enjoys visits from, and going on outings each week, with her niece Marj Bradley.
Hazel Donald (front) enjoys outings with her niece Marj Bradley.
While she never married herself, Miss Donald lived with her sister Dorothy and brother-in-law Ern Brisbane and their family.
This included helping raise her four nephews and a niece.
Miss Donald celebrated her milestone birthday last weekend with a lunch with extended family members at the Shepparton Club on Sunday.
“We had a nice party,” she said.
Hazel Donald with her eldest great niece Michelle Brisbane and friend Georgina Lee at her 102nd birthday celebrations.
When asked her secret to such a long life, Miss Donald’s answer was a simple one.
“I just live,” she said.
“I go to bed and go to sleep, and then I wake up every day.
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