Elsie Winifred Spokes was 100 years old on Sunday and she had two celebrations - one was a lunch party at the Chase Hotel with 22 members of her family, and the other was a tea party for 38 at Ross Court, with the Mayor of Ross, Councillor Derek Bedford, among the guests to see her cut her cake. Elsie received her telegram from the Queen at Ross Court Residential Home, where she now lives. She was born in Brentwood and worked in London for the Liverpool Victoria Insurance Friendly Society for 43 years. Elsie told The Ross Gazette that she put her long and happy life down to her parents. "I had very good parents and a lovely home and I was happy in my work." She explained that she had been quite athletic in her youth and played a lot of tennis. She said she was delighted with her card from the Queen and was enjoying living at Ross Court where she has made many friends. Elsie had two brothers and one sister but she is the last of the line. John Dazeley of Ross is her fifth cousin, so after spending some of her retirement in Eastbourne she decided to move to Ross to be near him and her other relatives.
