Howick man celebrates a century of ‘tonk’
As for the best thing that had happened to him in the last 100 years, Roberts said simply that it was meeting his beloved wife, Elizabeth.
Family flew in from Canada and Australia to celebrate the 100th birthday of Roy Roberts, who lives in the Amberfield Retirement Village in Howick.
He was the guest of honour at a party, hosted at the Presbyterian Church in Main Street, on Thursday, where his eldest son, David, revealed that his father had always encouraged them to give everything they did in life “a good tonk”.
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“Dad took that as a motto through his life as well,” he said.
He was the first person in his family to go to university when that was not a common thing to do. We’re very lucky that he did, because that is where he met our beautiful mum, Elizabeth.
In his spare time, Roberts renovated and rented out old houses, and was a beekeeper with 50 hives, making and selling his own honey.
He also loved travelling and would pack his wife and children into a small Austin A50 and head off on holidays around South Africa and to places in neighbouring countries.
“When you think of the last 100 years, all of the events and all of the circumstances that Dad has survived and surmounted, it’s absolutely incredible,” David said.
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“Dad, you really have given it a tonk!”
Asked what he put his longevity down to, Roberts said it was important to choose your parents well.
“My mother was 95 when she died and my dad was in his early 70s when he got cancer,” he said.
As for the best thing that had happened to him in the last 100 years, Roberts said simply that it was meeting his beloved wife, Elizabeth.
Born in Ladysmith on July 26, 1926, Roberts grew up in the town and went on to qualify as a geography teacher.
He later became a head of department and then a lecturer and, ultimately, the vice rector of the Natal College of Education.
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Roy and Elizabeth, who died in 2014, had four children: David, Claire Radford, Vivienne Hall and Hugh Roberts.
The centenarian also has nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
He and his family will be travelling to Salt Rock this weekend to continue the birthday celebrations.
