Walsall's oldest woman? Olive celebrates 104th birthday with a cuppa and cake
A former leather worker who is one of the oldest women in the Black Country has celebrated her 104th birthday... with a good old cuppa!
Olive Saunders, from Walsall, was born in Essex Street just four months after the First World War started in 1914.
Now remarkably more than a century on she has marked her latest milestone with her family at Harden Hall Care Home where she lives.
And she celebrated with her favourite treat – a nice cup of tea and bit of cake.
After studying at the Blue Coat School, Olive went on to work in the leather trade making what was known as ‘fancy leather’ such as wallets and dog collar for factories such as Whitehouse Cox & Co, taking a break in the 1960s to work as a dinner lady at RC Thomas School.
In 1936 she had married a builder, Harold Saunders – who had the same last name – and went on to have two sons, Philip in 1937 and Derrick in 1944 all living in Bloxwich Road, before the pair divorced in 1958.
She moved to the newly-built flats at Leamore in the 60s until the was about 97, when she moved to Harden Hall Care Home.
Olive now has three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Son Derrick said: “She started in the leather trade after school and has done that for most of her life.
“She loved working making fancy leather, things like wallets and dog collars.
“In the 60s she had a break and went to work in a school as a dinner lady before coming back to the leather trade until she retired when she was about 65.
“Mum loved dancing in her younger years and music and her holidays, she always went to holiday camps but never went abroad.
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“She’s always been very popular, everybody goes on about her smiling all the time.
"She’s been a good mother to the both of us and worked hard all her life.
"She was born at the beginning of the First World War so she's lived through two world wars.
"She's seen a lot of changes in her life, in Walsall particularly.
“When she was a child her mother used to run a fish and chip shop and she used to help out when she could after school.”
Olive celebrated her 104th birthday on Thursday with a party with her family at Harden Hall Care Home.
She was presented with a cake and flowers.
Derrick added: “She had lots of flowers this year and a cake, she loves her cups of tea and cake.
“She’s one of the oldest residents in the care home as well as one that has lived there the longest.
“She’s quite happy there, she loves it and the staff are fantastic.”
