Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

May celebrates reaching 102

By Laurel Stowell
Whanganui Chronicle·
3 May, 2016 08:24 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

FAMILY LIKENESS: Diane Donald (left) and her mother, May Donald. PHOTO/ STUART MUNRO

FAMILY LIKENESS: Diane Donald (left) and her mother, May Donald. PHOTO/ STUART MUNRO

May Donald can remember when it was her father's job to stamp the cheeses leaving by boat from the port of Patea.

She was born in 1914 and celebrates her 102nd birthday today, with a family afternoon tea at Edale Home in Marton.

Born in Patea, she was one of six children. She went to school there and to Hawera High School. After school she worked as a dental assistant in Patea, before marrying Harold Donald, a railway worker.

They moved to Whanganui and lived in Ingestre St. Then they moved to Ohura and finally to Marton in 1942. Mrs Donald was in her late 20s at the time, and has been there ever since - 74 years.

"You go where the money and work is," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But she does have a special connection with Marton - her grandfather Robert Signal was an early settler there.

She and Harold had five children. She remembers using coupons to buy sugar during World War II.

"You had to have so many coupons for sugar, and some for different items that we used."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They did not have to buy eggs as she kept chickens. The two always had a large vegetable garden and grew fuchsias and chrysanthemums for pleasure.

Mrs Donald sewed the children's clothes, knitted, crocheted and was a good cook.

She also played cards, and Housie in Marton, Whanganui, Feilding and Palmerston North. Her biggest Housie win was in Whanganui - $1000.

Her husband died in 1972, and at age 100 she was still living in her own flat on the Edale grounds.

She had been inside the home for the past 18 months, but still knits and shares jokes with the nurse who helps her take a shower.

It may not have been dramatic, but it was a pretty good life, her daughter Diane said.

"She enjoyed gardening and things around the home and didn't go anywhere much."

Mrs Donald attributes her long life partly to luck - but also to healthy living with no smoking or drinking.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Nice and cold': Whanganui's weekend weather forecast

Whanganui Chronicle

Ucol disestablishes 43 roles

Whanganui Chronicle

NZ Opera School appoints general manager to support future growth


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Nice and cold': Whanganui's weekend weather forecast
Whanganui Chronicle

'Nice and cold': Whanganui's weekend weather forecast

Temperatures are expected to drop to 3C overnight on Saturday and Sunday.

17 Jul 11:09 PM
Ucol disestablishes 43 roles
Whanganui Chronicle

Ucol disestablishes 43 roles

17 Jul 06:00 PM
NZ Opera School appoints general manager to support future growth
Whanganui Chronicle

NZ Opera School appoints general manager to support future growth

17 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP