Park Lane resident Betty Willis celebrates her 100th birthday

We all wish Park Lane Care Home resident Betty Willis a very happy 100th birthday!

Betty has lived her whole life in Hull, East Yorkshire, but moved to our home in Congleton, Cheshire, in the summer to be close to her niece Elizabeth.

Celebrating her big day with a fabulous cake made by chef Andrew Savatovich, Betty, who never married, said the secret of a happy and healthy life was “to be happy and smile a lot”.

Betty grew up in Hull with her parents Sarah and John Willis; she had a brother called John who sadly passed away in his 80s.

She left school at the age of 14 and started working at household products manufacturer Reckitt and Sons. After spending four years in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the Army during the Second World War, she returned to  Reckitt and Sons in the wages department and worked there until she retired at the age of 60.

Betty never married or had children - she said that there weren’t enough men in her day so unfortunately never found the man of her dreams. 

She was a member of the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), which arranged walking holidays that Betty enjoyed. She also had holidays abroad and has travelled to Switzerland, Austria and Canada.  Betty enjoys reading books, especially murder mysteries.

Betty is proud to have lived through the reigns of four British monarchs, George V, George VI, Elizabeth II and now Charles III.   

A quote from Betty: “Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred, strong in the arms and gone in the head.”


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Author: Stephen Pullinger