This is the moment an Islington woman cut the cake at her 100th birthday party.
Mitzie Clarke celebrated reaching triple digits with a party at her Brunswick Estate home of six decades, in Tompion Street just off St John Street. And she revealed the secret to long life is a daily diet of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. "It's just a birthday," Mitzie told the Gazette. "It's just 100 years. I never thought I would get there to be honest," she chuckled. "I have never been a party girl, I'm just a plain ordinary woman, there's not many about like me.I live healthily. I don't take no drugs. I don't take no tablets, I let the pain go by and it goes [she suffers form arthritis]. I eat plenty of vegetable evert day and I cook my own dinner."
Mitzie was born in Austria in 1920 and has outlived her two siblings. She has an 83-year-old daughter and three grandsons in Austria. The centenarian met and married her English husband Bill in 1947 in Austria, before they moved to Islington.
The happy coupled moved onto the Brunswick Estate 61 years ago.
Mitzie worked as a civil servant before retiring aged 65 to look after her Bill, who died 33 years ago. She added: "I didn't want to retire and they said: 'If you want to carry on you can', but my husband became ill so I stayed at home while he was still alive."
Reflecting on Mitzie's birthday party, Brunswick Estate TMO manager Grace Udoh said: "It was beautiful, everybody came. It was amazing and she was so happy and said: 'This is going to live with me forever, I can't thank you enough'." Grace helped organise the surprise party for Mitzie, who thought she was just going to have fish and chips with a couple of immediate neighbours.
Grace added: "When she came down and saw the surprise she was so happy that all of those people were there."
She added: "I asked what keeps her going, Mitzie's advice to anyone is to live a simple life, not take life too seriously, mind your business, not get worked up about things especially if you cannot do anything about it, be yourself, stick up for yourself as often no one will, remain fair, let people be and not interfere as they have to learn for themselves. Mitzie, on behalf of the TMO, the committee and all of Brunswick Estate residents, we wish you a very happy birthday, may you remain in good health, in mind, body and spirit. Let's raise a glass for Mitzie, here is to another decade or two, if you like Mitzie."
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