‘Good girl’ celebrates her 102nd birthday with smile

A WOMAN celebrated her 102nd birthday in Sonning Common with care home staff and close family.

Ethel Fuller marked the occasion with a celebration at the Abbeycrest nursing home, where staff made her a vanilla sponge cake and sang Happy Birthday to her.

The guests enjoyed a buffet of sausage rolls, sandwiches and refreshments.

Relatives and staff had bought her three boxes of chocolates and flowers and her son Christopher had bought her a bird feeder so she can watch the birds feeding from the window of her room.

On her achievement, Ethel said: “I don’t know what my secret is. I don’t know how I got here. Maybe my secret is being a good girl.”

Mrs Fuller, who moved to the Essex Way home when she was 100, enjoys reading, knitting and solving wordsearch and crossword puzzles.

She is an avid member of the Sonning Common library book club, which visits the home every
fortnight.

Ethel was born on May 9, 1922 in Briants Avenue, Caversham, and attended St John’s School until she was five.

She then attended Caversham Council School, which is now Thameside Primary School, until she was 11.

She was 14 when she started work at Huntley and Palmers, a biscuit manufacturer in King’s Road, Reading, and stayed six years.

In January 1942, Ethel married George Fuller, from Tilehurst, at St John the Baptist Church in St John’s Road, Caversham. She was 19 and George was 24.

The couple had two sons, Alan and Christopher.

Mrs Fuller said: “When we got married, there was snow on the ground. My father had to sweep the front for me to get out and into the car.

“It was just a small affair. George’s mother and my mother saved up for bits and pieces and we made sandwiches. It was a small buffet and I had a fruit cake from Huntley and Palmers.

“My father-in-law gave me his coupons because I said I had no coupons for a wedding dress. He said, ‘Well, I don’t want anything, you can have my coupons’.

“It was just a plain satin dress but the tops and the sleeves were threaded with silver.”

The couple moved to Star Road, Caversham, and Ethel went to work on machinery for aircraft wings in Caversham Road while George was in the army during the Second World War.

She said: “I was put on a machine and was putting rivets in the wings of the aeroplanes.

“I wasn’t there all that long as I was going to have my first son so I left work altogether and looked after him.”

The couple would visit the Palace Theatre in Reading and enjoyed watching Gracie Fields, the actress and singer.

They also enjoyed bike rides together when they went on dates.

Mr Fuller passed away in 2009, aged 93.

George King, a support manager at the home, said: “She has lived through so much and still has the ability to relay her memories. It is extraordinary.

“Her health has remained since she came here. She is always happy and willing to chat and she loves having fun. She joins in with the book club and some of the creative activities like crafts.

“She was really happy and smiley when we sang her Happy Birthday.”