“It just happened,” she said.
“I didn't think a lot about it.
“I’m just fortunate to have good health and my memory's still with me.”
Sylvia was born in Shepparton on January 20, 1926, the second youngest of six kids.
She attended Grahamvale Primary School in Shepparton, where she has many fond memories.
“School was wonderful,” she said.
“I’ve always loved books.”
Sylvia recalled when Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, famous for making the first trans-Pacific flight from the US to Australia, touched down in Shepparton in November of 1933.
“I would have been about seven or eight, and he landed in a paddock out near Shepparton and Verney Rd,” she said.
“The teacher from our school took all of us kids through the orchards to see this Kingsford Smith and his plane.
“He was adventurous, our teacher, and so fun.
“I hadn't quite turned 14 when I left school, I had my merit, that was your eighth grade, and I said to Dad, ‘I’d like to go to high school’ and he said ‘Oh, Sylvie, you don’t need to go to high school, you’ll end up getting married.’”
Sylvia’s first job was at a shoe shop where her wages were less than the men’s despite selling the same stuff.
She said she was glad things had changed since then.
Sylvia lived through World War II and described it as a “dull sort of a time”.
“We had coupons for butter, sugar, meat, and you were limited to what you could buy,” she said.
Sylvia married her husband, Tom, in 1946 at age 20 and had to get permission from her parents, as she was under the age of 21.
“Tom was the boy next door,” she said, recalling how they met.
“At the end of the war, accommodation was hard.
“So we had to rent a couple of rooms in someone’s house.”
The couple worked on a dairy farm before buying their own farm at Yarroweyah, where they lived for 30 years.
In 1980, Sylvia and Tom built a house in Cobram, where Sylvia still lives to this day.
“Cobram’s a nice little town,” she said.
“I like this area because we’re down near the river.”
When Sylvia and Tom moved to Cobram, they got into leadlighting — cutting coloured and textured glass into patterns for windows — and even did their own home.
The couple ran a small business, creating designs from birds to flowers and installing them in homes.
Sylvia worked in leadlighting for 10 years and even taught night classes.
Tom and Sylvia were married for 63 years and had three children together: Peggy, Garry and Colin.
They now have eight grandchildren and more great-grandchildren.
Sylvia celebrated her birthday at Sporties Barooga, enjoying a lovely dinner with family and friends.
“The good thing about it was all the family came from everywhere to help me celebrate,” she said.
Sylvia’s secret to turning 100?
“Just good living, keeping fit, eating properly and don't be frightened of a bit of hard work,” she said.
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