Durban - The key to living to 100 is playing Scrabble and keeping busy. That has been the secret behind Maria Kellerman’s
longevity.
Kellerman on Tuesday celebrated her 100th birthday at Glenhaven Retirement Home in Garsfontein, Pretoria. And her daughter, Lana Kellerman, said: “Until recently, she played Scrabble.”
Now, Lana said, her mother’s eyesight was failing her so she could no longer see the blocks as well as she used to. Sewing was also one of the activities Kellerman enjoyed most, and it kept her busy throughout her life.
Maria Dorothia Liebenberg was born on April 25, 1917, the youngest of seven children. “My mother died from a terrible bout of influenza when I was 2. Both of us had it, but unfortunately she died,” said Ria, as she is fondly called
by family and friends.
Kellerman grew up on a farm. She was raised by her father and stepmother, and partly by her grandmother. “She was not very strict. She let me run around in the bush as long as I kept the house clean,” she said.
Kellerman spends most of her time with friends, as well as her two children,
10 grandchildren and 11 great-
grandchildren.