A woman who has lived in Aberdeen for most of her life has celebrated her 100th birthday in the city.
Mary Forbes celebrated her milestone birthday surrounded by family on Tuesday, May 31.
It was a double celebration for the family as Mrs Forbes’s great-granddaughter, Emily, celebrated her 16th birthday on the same day.
The 100-year-old was born in Aberdeen and has spent her whole life living in the city, apart from her time with the RAF. She started out at Lossiemouth in 1942, volunteering until the end of the Second World War.
Despite the horrors of the war, she loved her RAF days which allowed her to experience a new way of life and make lots of good friends.
She was very close to her parents and had two brothers and a sister, as well as an identical twin who sadly died when they were young girls.
Mrs Forbes met her late husband, bootmaker John Forbes in 1946, and the couple tied the knot in November 1947 – the day after the Queen’s wedding to Prince Philip.
They started their married life living with Mrs Forbes’s parents in the Rosemount area before moving to Mastrick.
Together they had two children, Jim Forbes, born in 1948, and Mary Rose Pendle, born in 1953.
‘An independent lady’
After her children were born, Mrs Forbes worked as a maid at Woodend Hospital and part-time at the Glen Gordon knitwear and glove factory in Berryden.
Her daughter said she has always been a “very independent lady” and just moved into Summerhill Care Home in the city centre around Christmas, at the age of 99.
“She’s strong-willed,” Mrs Pendle said. “She used to love walking. She was a great walker which is what I think has kept her so fit.
“My brother had two staffies over the years and my mum would walk the dogs for miles. I think it’s what has kept her going for so long.”
The 100-year-old has two granddaughters through her son, Jim and daughter-in-law Hilda – Nicky lives in Aberdeen, while Natalie lives in Australia. She is also a great-grandmother of five.
Mrs Forbes’s daughter lives in Norfolk with her husband, Tony, but travels up to Aberdeen to visit her mum every year.
Mrs Pendle said: “She has said it’s just another birthday. She doesn’t want a lot of fuss but she’ll have to put up with it.
“She wasn’t keen to go out to celebrate so the home said she could have anything she liked for her lunch, so she picked poached salmon and new potatoes. And we organised a cake and cupcakes for her and Emily.”