BORN in South Africa to Swedish parents before immigrating to Australia in her 70s, it is far to say the City of Melville’s latest centurion Lisa Silburn has lived an interesting life.
Mrs Silburn, who lives at Braemer Presbyterian Care in Willagee and celebrated her 100th birthday on April 25, is the daughter of a priest who travelled to South Africa as a missionary.
A former geography teacher and then headmistress in South Africa, Mrs Silburn still enjoys speaking both Swedish and Afrikaans, which she said helped to keep her mind sharp and active.
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READ NOW“My love of geography extended past the classroom, I’ve always loved to travel, and as a child spent many holidays in Durban, Margate and the Drakensberg mountains,” she said
“I remember a particularly exhilarating experience climbing the summit of Cathedral Peak in the Drakensberg, where the last few metres had to be reached by rope ladder.
“But my favourite holiday as a young mum and wife was a tour of Europe, where we travelled by minibus through England, Italy, Austria and Germany, and later to Alaska in summer, which was just beautiful.”
Mrs Silburn came to Australia following the death of her husband Bob.
She was soon followed by her adult son who now lives in the North-West of WA.
“I love living in Australia, it is a wonderful place and Perth is certainly very clean and unspoiled,” she said.
“I have been privileged to have enjoyed an interesting and full life, and I still very much enjoy keeping active and busy every day.”
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