Stonehouse centenarian celebrates 100th birthday in style with huge party and limousine trip

FAMILY and friends travelled from far flung corners of the country to celebrate the 100th birthday of a beloved woman from Stonehouse.

Irene Adey was joined by more than 70 members of her extended family to mark the special occasion on Saturday, March 18.

The centenarian was whisked off from her home in Storrington Road to the Holiday Inn at Barnwood by a limousine for her huge birthday celebrations.

There she enjoyed a red-carpet treatment with decorations, songs and cake, as well as presents from well-wishers and old friends.

Those among the crowd included sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and great grandchildren – with her grandson Julian making the trip especially from Sierra Leone.

“I can’t quite believe I’ve made it to 100 – but hopefully I got many more years in me yet,” she said.

“My birthday celebrations were wonderful. On Friday we enjoyed a meal with 10 family members at the Edgemoor Inn in Edge.

“Then on Saturday I was taken to a party in Gloucester in a limousine with Cynthia Dickens, my youngest sister aged 91, and my brother Hollis Drake, who is 88.

“The party was wonderful and full of surprises and enjoyment. I want to say thank you to everyone who made it such a special day.”

Irene was born in Nailsworth in March 1917, one day after British troops made a significant victory in the Battle of the Somme in the First World War.

After a happy childhood in the Five Valleys she started a role nursing at Stroud Workhouse aged 17.

It was not long after that she moved to Storrington Road in Stonehouse in 1937, where she has lived happily ever since.

She took on a number of jobs over the years, including laundry work at Standish Hospital and weaving in Ryeford.

However, after WWII broke out Irene was called in to make ball-bearings for the war effort.

She married her beloved husband Leslie at the church in Stonehouse on April 30, 1941.

That same year he signed up and joined other men from across the county in the second battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment.

During the war he was stationed at Port Talbot in Lincolnshire and never saw combat.

However many in his unit went to fight in Burma and sadly never returned.

The couple were married for an incredible 60 years before Leslie sadly passed away in 2001 aged 89 years.