A woman who turned 100 was “beaming” when she opened a card to find it was from the King and Queen.
Myfanwy Thomas was born in Brynmawr on 16 October 1925. She moved into Cwmbran House, Pontnewydd, six months ago from her flat in Llanyrafon.
Her friends and family gathered in the home’s social club on the afternoon of Saturday 18 October to celebrate. She has four daughters, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren whom she “absolutely adores.”
Liz Gilmore, one of her daughters, now lives in Brisbane. She flew from Australia to be part of her mum’s special day.
Kath Kelland, one of her daughters who lives in Cwmbran, said: “When the King’s card came, she was beaming.
“We all came at 11 o’clock [on the day of her birthday], you know, immediate family, and she was absolutely beaming then when she saw her card off the King, as she knew it was real then.
“She got hundreds of cards. She’s always been a well-loved lady. We tried to put them up but there’s too many.”
Mrs Thomas moved to Cwmbran with her late husband, a coal miner, about 58 years ago when he got a job in Newport steelworks. During World War II, she worked in a munitions factory in Govilon, near Abergavenny.
Ebenezer Baptist Church
Kath added: “She has been a loyal follower of Jesus and has served and worshipped in Ebenezer Baptist Church [now Two Locks Community Church] and then Llanyrafon Methodist Church.
“She was a pastoral worker and loved to visit people, especially in their homes, hospitals or care homes. Sometimes the people that she visited were older than her, but she still loved doing it.”
Kath said her mum loves her family and great-grandchildren, adding that she: “Adores them all. It’s the highlight of her life when they visit her.”
Mrs Thomas was a member of several choirs, including Pontnewydd Ladies Choir.
‘100% independent’
Sarah Kingston, one of her grandchildren, said: “Up until Covid, granny was going here, there, and everywhere. You never knew where she was; always just been 100% independent.
“On one particular day, I was supposed to be taking her to a matinee performance in Bristol in the afternoon, and I turned up at her flat, and I was thinking ‘well, she’s not answering. She’s not in.’ I could not find her at all.
“She wasn’t answering her phone. My parents were in India at the time, so I rang my aunty Caroline and said, ‘any idea where granny could be?’ and she said she was hanging out with her friend Joyce quite a lot.
“So aunty Caroline rang Joyce’s daughter, who said ‘oh they’ve gone off to Abergavenny.’ So off I sped to Abergavenny to pick her up and drop Joyce back in Cwmbran, and we just managed to get to Bristol quite literally as the curtain was going up. She’s just incredible.
“She was like ‘it’s in my calendar for tomorrow’ but yes, good times.”