A large cake was brought out for a surprise morning tea to celebrate Pearl’s special day, with the great-grandmother’s Regents Garden room in Wanneroo adorned with cards and flowers.
Pearl, a farmer’s daughter, was born in the Wheatbelt town of Kununoppin.
‘She fell in love with a young man who lived and worked in the next farm who used to ride up to meet her brothers on a big black horse,’ daughter Myrna Sharpe said.
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READ NOW‘So she fell in love with her knight in shining armour on a black horse.’
Pearl and Ian Sharrett married and had two children, Myrna and younger brother Greg.
She now has four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Pearl said she had enjoyed her birthday and that it had been a wonderful surprise.
‘It’s no different (being 103),’ she said. ‘I get asked that question ‘how did I get to 103?’ and I say ‘it just happens. You don’t set out to do it’.’
Myrna said they had held a party for her mother’s 100th birthday, attended by Pearl’s bowling friends.
‘At that stage mum used to play bowls and cards with these ladies and they all travelled together from South Perth to my daughter’s place in Bullsbrook,’ she said.
‘She got a letter from the Queen and a photo and a card from the Governor General who just retired.’
Pearl, who enjoyed craft and crochet in her younger years, is still a whiz when it comes to magazine puzzles.
‘She loves her weekly magazines, she looks forward to them,’ Myrna said.
‘She’s just a wonderful lady and the girls here love her because she’s no problem. They say she’s ‘our darling’. It’s lovely.’