Probus legend Dot celebrating ‘100th’

This followed Probus Regents Park, of which she is a member, hosting a function in her honour complete with flowers, gifts and a presentation fit for a queen “because that’s what she is to us”.
Born in Homebush in 1924, the family moved to Auburn when she was a baby.
As a child, Dot had her own cow, as did each of her five brothers and sister.
Times were tough growing up “no one had anything” but there are plenty of happy memories too.
She remembers picking wildflowers and playing around Duck Creek but unlike the boys, wasn’t allowed to swim in the water.
“Even if allowed, I wouldn’t have wanted to because they used to empty the sanitary pans there so it wasn’t very clean,” she said.
“It was in the days before Auburn was on the sewerage system, the trucks used to come once a week to pick up our pans.”
She recalls the excitement of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House opening but said everyone had to go without at times.
“You couldn’t just go out and buy a frock, there was rationing and you also needed coupons for butter, sugar, tea and meat; most people had chickens and grew their own vegetables,” she said.
After attending Berala Convent, the St Peter Chanel Catholic Churchgoer got a job as a wards maid at St Josephs Hospital where she met husband Vincent and in 1965, they built the Berala home in which she still lives.
On a walker now but still enjoying numerous activities including the seniors concerts at Dooleys, she said: “My advice for a long life is to stay active, just keep moving and eat well.”