Glenisla Care Home resident celebrates 100th birthday
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A RESIDENT at Glenisla Care Home in Keith celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday in the company of family and friends.
Elizabeth (Betty) Bonner was joined by loved ones at Glenisla to celebrate the milestone occasion and was delighted to receive a special visit from the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire Andrew Simpson.
Betty was born on Watermill Farm in Fraserburgh on May 13, 1923, the daughter of Mary and Alexander Cranna. She had two brothers, Ian and Alexander (Sandy).
The brothers later married two sisters with Ian marrying Jean Smith and Sandy tying the knot with Jean's sister Florence.
Jean served as Betty's bridesmaid and is set to join her at Glenisla to make the milestone occasion even more special.
Glenisla activities coordinator Emily Clair said: “It's an honour to celebrate her 100th birthday with her, surrounded by her loving family and friends. She was especially pleased to meet the Lord Lieutenant of Banffshire, Andrew Simpson.
"Betty has touched the lives of so many people here and we are privileged to have her as part of our Glenisla family.
“Betty is such a gentle soul and very sweet natured. She laughs a lot at little jokes. She likes to giggle, and she lives for a cup of tea."
Betty and her brothers were brought up on Ness dairy farm in Nigg, Aberdeen. She enjoyed helping on the farm at home and attended Torry school until the age of 14 before learning shorthand at Webster's Business College.
That enabled Betty to secure her first job at the Northern Bank in Aberdeen where she worked as head clerk until the age of 21.
After moving to Drumblade with her parents, Betty met her future husband Frank Bonner.
Frank served in the Gordon Highlanders during World War 2 and was captured in Normandy.
He was part of what became known as the 'long march', where captured POWs were marched from France to Poland. His wartime experience had a traumatic effect and, for a time, he rarely left home when he returned to Scotland after his release.
However, he met Betty, the love of his life, shortly after by sheer luck.
His good friend worked as a milk collector and, as fate would have it, he had some time off work and it fell to Frank to collect the milk.
It was during one of his collection runs that he met Betty, then 23. Frank even told his friends that he would “marry that girl” and he did, in August 1950 in Drumblade.
The pair moved to Paisley for work shortly after and Betty gave birth to their son Ian in October 1952.
Betty worked in various roles at a local bank in the subsequent years but the family moved to a property overlooking Arran, where Betty and Frank had honeymooned, following Frank's retirement in 1979.
They moved back north to their son's farmhouse in Huntly when Frank's health began to deteriorate before he sadly passed away in January 2006.
Betty moved into Glenisla in 2015 where she continues to enjoy traditional Scottish music.
