Fareham's 100-year-old who vows to '˜keep going'Â
And even after a day of celebrations, Lillian Hurley of Fareham still couldn't get her head around it.
'˜I sort of wondered if I would reach 100, but never thought it would actually happen.'
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Hide AdBut sitting in her chair, Lillian talks me through her life, insisting '˜you just have to keep going'.
Born on October 21, 1918, Lillian nee Malyon was one of six '“Â with three sisters and two brothers. Surrounded by her siblings and an abundance of farm animals, Lillian fondly remembers growing up at Red Barn Farm in Portchester.
'˜My parents were farmers and that's where I grew up. I loved animals and wildlife,' she explains.
After finishing school, Lillian started her working life as a domestic servant before she fell in love with a Canadian soldier.
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Hide AdLillian met Private Victor John Hurley of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps when he came over to Fareham during the Second World War.
The couple clicked straight away and fell deeply in love. And it wasn't long before they got married at the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Fareham, in 1940.
'˜I was so nervous when I got married,' laughs Lillian.
'˜And we went on a short honeymoon to the Isle of Wight afterwards.'
With Victor's Canadian roots, the couple planned to return to his hometown of Niagara Falls. In 1943 their first son, John, arrived and they finally left Fareham when the war ended in 1945.
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Hide Ad'˜The war was on so we couldn't go to Canada for some time '“Â Vic was involved in the invasion of Sicily,' explains Lillian.
'˜My dad didn't see me for 18 months,' says Lillian's son John, 75, who lives in Lee-on-the-Solent.
'˜Dad came back from the war and then we all went to Canada with him.'
But while her husband was away, Lillian kept herself busy by joining the WAAF's '“Â which she says was '˜the best time of her life'.
'˜I made a lot of friends when I was there too.'
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