by Yvette Brand
Nance Black proudly says her 100 years has been a great life with "good parents and excellent children."
She credits her good age to lots of walking and drinking only water or fruit juice.
The Abbey Gardens Aged Care resident celebrated her 100th birthday last Tuesday with family, staff, residents and a favourite cream sponge before a bigger family celebration on Saturday.
The eldest of four children, Nance was born on June 3, 1925 to Norm and Eve Kneebone.
She was born in Coburg and as a child moved into the suburbs and settled in Oakleigh with her parents and siblings.
At just 16 years old Nance went to work full-time in a boot factory and remained there for five years.
"Mum and dad were very poor so I had to go to work young. I was born to young parents - they were good people and they worked hard.
"My dad taught me to shoot. I put my good age down to all the walking I did when I was young. I walked hundreds of miles with dad to shoot rabbits - we had to do it to eat, mum would cook baked rabbit," Nance said.
A train trip between Oakleigh and Richmond was where Nance found romance and her husband-to-be in Cecil Black.
"We used to travel on the same 7.15 train every morning to South Yarra and Richmond and one day we were standing in line to buy tickets and he stood behind me and said hello babe.
"We courted for four years before we were married.
Nance and Cecil lived in Oakleigh, raising five children - Des, Darryl, Trevor, Rodney and Janis.
"I loved family life. When I found out I was having another baby I was thrilled - they are gifts from God, they've all been good kids and they are all there for one another," she said.
Before children, Nance and Cecil loved travelling on their motorbike, taking in many day trips and adventures.
"I enjoyed sitting on the back and cuddling my love...then I rode in style when he bought a sidecar," she said.
Once their children arrived, Cecil was determined the family would have many holidays and built a caravan - it was the beginning of many camping and caravanning adventures around Australia.
They also were international travellers, enjoying travels to the USA, England, France, Italy and Canada.
Cecil died in 2005 but their family has continued to grow and Nance continues to enjoy her children and their families, including eight grandchildren and nine grandchildren.
Nance has mastered many crafts, being an avid knitter, a writer and a poet. She also loves puzzles and crosswords.
For 22 years she taught religious education at five schools and also taught Sunday school.
Nance also plays the keyboard and said she inherited her mother's lovely signing voice.
With Janis living at Labertouche, Nance moved to Warragul's Abbey Gardens in 2017 and since then has developed her writing and poetry.
Nance is a published author with her series of short stories featuring a fictional character of her creation "Duggie the Dustbin."
"I've had a great life, good parents and excellent children," Nance said.