Millbrook's Sheila White, celebrating her 100th birthday, lives independently on farm

This is one pint-sized dynamo who refuses to let age limit her and despite losing Thomas, her beloved husband of 72 years in 2021, she is staying put in the house she has lived in for almost her entire married life.

"I did intend going to Ballarat when Tom passed on but I've changed my mind. My family and neighbours are very good to me and make it easy for me to stay in my home," Mrs White said.

She was born on April 29, 1923, and grew up in Dunnstown with her older siblings Jeff and Essie.

They were quite the musical family with Sheila playing drums and Essie the piano at supper dances in the community. Mrs White loved those dances and attended regularly, sometimes as many as six per week!

"My father wanted to buy me a set of drums but I thought it would be too noisy. He played the violin," she said.

When Mrs White wasn't out having fun, she was riding horses or rabbiting. After finishing school at Sacred Heart, she went to work in an office before meeting Mr White at a dance and marrying on October 8, 1949.

The couple had two children, John and Glenda, and settled in Millbrook. Mr White was a truck and school bus driver, while Mrs White managed the Ballan TAB in the 1970s for a number of years. The Whites have three grandchildren and one great grandchild, with another on the way.

The Whites maintained a hefty social schedule their entire lives and Mrs White credits this with helping keep her young at heart. She played tennis until she was in her 70s as well as cards and indoor bowls.

"I think it's incredibly important to remain active and social. It keeps you young. Even now people are always dropping in to have a chat," she said.

Mrs White reckons she also has a bit of secret to her longevity: "I don 't drink, I don't smoke, I don't have tea or coffee and I don't eat vegetables".

Now that she cooks only for herself, Mrs White - a life-long sweet tooth - has no qualms about enjoying something like cream profiteroles for dinner, given she no longer has to cook for anyone else.

"I've been healthy my whole life," she said.

And in terms of looking after her mental health, she always finds something to do: "I knit, I bake and I cook - I like to be busy".

She also loves clothes and fashion, and says she is regularly stopped on the street by people telling her how lovely she looks.

"My mother used to be a dressmaker and she made all my dresses. I hated dress making; I did classes but I didn't like it. But I like to get dressed up," Mrs White said.

"I like to try and look smart when I go out. When I tell people my age they can be a little shocked."

After all this a woman who still has a wood fire and when her inside wood, handled by her nephew Gerard, is no more, she simply fills the wheelbarrow herself.

When asked how on earth she pushes a wheelbarrow, Mrs White said it wasn't that hard: "I don't push it of course ... I just drag it".

When it comes to the vast changes she's gone through in her lifetime, mobile phones are the first that spring to mind.

"People are always talking on the phone or looking at it. They don't have any social life. They think they do but they certainly don't. They don't know how to talk properly to each other anymore."

As for other technology, Mrs White is a bit of a stickler. She only gave up her twin tub washing machine a few years ago. She still believes it cleaned better than the automatic machine she now has.

Mrs White also has struggled with closing banks and changing systems. The recent decision to stop issuing cheque books hasn't gone down too well.

"I'm not into bank cards - and now they're changing cheque books," Mrs White said. "I'm still not into cards though."

The Millbrook community is hosting a party for Mrs White on Sunday, while the main event will be held on her birthday in Ballarat.

Family is important to Mrs White who this past week has enjoyed watching her great-great nephew Xavier Huxtable on television in the World Surf League Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach - he made the round of 16.

She also enjoys cheering on her great-nephews, professional cyclists Nick and Liam White, who also hail from Millbrook.

Mrs White has received her much-anticipated letter from King Charles but got her much-wanted letter from Queen Elizabeth II on her 70th wedding anniversary. She has also received letters from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

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