Smiling woman with 20 great-grandchildren celebrates 103rd birthday surrounded by loved ones
A much-loved nursing home resident celebrated her 103rd birthday with a sing-song and a visit from not one but two local mayors.
Betty Clarke is a resident of the Priory in Wellington and had a room full of her family who include five children, 14 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren who were joined by well-wishers and friends for her party this week.
She was visited by the mayor of Telford in the morning and the mayor of Wellington in the afternoon - and a singer also went along to get the party atmosphere going.
Daughter Rosemary Whitfield, 76, said: "She always says you need to smile every day and she always greets people with a great big grin across her face.
"She is the only one left of nine children and is the eldest of her brothers and sisters.
"She eats healthily and does not smoke or drink - although she sometimes has a drop of Baileys in her tea."
Mrs Clarke, who was born in Coventry to a father from Shropshire and a mother from London, and they moved to the county when she was young. She was was married to Eric for 60 years before he died in 2011 aged 92.
She did many jobs, including a nurse in London during part of the blitz, and would pick potatoes in the fields when the family needed the money. A talented seamstress, she had a shop in Dawley where she made wedding and bridesmaid dresses.
Betty, who was born Annie Elizabeth Williams, was also a talented baker, making exquisite three-tiered wedding and birthday cakes.
Betty also has a cheeky sense of humour. Five years ago, when one of her grandchildren, Michelle Archer, made a family photo calendar on the theme of shoes, she pretended to be naked behind some shrubbery in a hotel car park, holding the shoes in a pose.
"She wasn't naked," said Rosemary. "She had a strappy dress on which was made to look like she had nothing on top!"
And Betty has also travelled widely, including on a family holiday to Tenerife last year when she was a sprightly 102.
She grew up in an age when she did not have indoor toilets and the family used an old tin bath.
But Rosemary said she is well up with modern technology, owning an e-reader and a mobile phone. She has also kept her seamstress dexterity and can keep within the lines when she draws.
