By Victoria Stone-Meadows
A resident of Langford Grange in Cranbourne East has reached a remarkable milestone and celebrated her 100th birthday on 10 July.
Formerly of the Pakenham and Officer areas, Mrs Avis Musgrove reached her centenary with a celebration from friends at the aged care facility and her surviving family.
Mrs Musgrove chalks her longevity up to living a good life, staying healthy and being kind to others along the way.
Always one to practise what she preached, Mrs Musgrove was heavily involved in the church and communities where she lived.
She held volunteer roles with the Probus club, helped out with meals on wheels and was a Sunday school teacher.
She helped to raise money for students at the Sunday school to buy books and pens and other things they needed.
Mrs Musgrove and her late husband Eric were blessed with two sons, Kenneth and Eric Jnr, though Ken Musgrove’s life was tragically cut short in an accident in 2003.
Mrs Musgrove said her husband and sons were the light of her life and both her and Eric Snr loved them dearly.
“My husband Eric was a very determined man but he was very kind to me,” she said.
“We had our sons and he idolised his sons.”
Ms Musgrove’s surviving son Eric Musgrove Jnr said his mother used to tell him and his late brother stories from when she grew up on a farm.
“She was born on a farming property and she and her sister used to ride their ponies to school because that was the only form of transport,” he said.
“When they used to go do the family shopping they would go by horse and buggy and in those days they only had wood fires and lanterns in the house.”
Mr Musgrove said his mother was a very caring woman who had been many times blessed with a growing family she cared for very deeply.
“She was a very caring and hard-working, and brought us up in an old school kind of way,” he said.
“She was a great mother to both Ken and I and now she has got grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great children.”
Mr Musgrove said he was very pleased his mother had reached 100 years of age and thanked the staff at Langford Grange for caring for her.
“We are all very happy she has reached it and is still enjoying life,” he said.
“We are also very thankful to Langford Grange aged care for the qualities of the facilities and the great efforts of the staff there; it has really helped her longevity.”
Ms Musgrove herself said she was feeling good about reaching 100 years of age and had some advice for younger generations.
“I feel well and I am lucky I am still in good health,” she said.
“My advice is to live a good life and try to be kind to everyone and help where it is needed,” she said.
