AT THE grand age of 111, Cottesloe super-centenarian Thelma McLeod is the second oldest person in Australia.
The Kalgoorlie-born West Australian recently celebrated her milestone birthday surrounded by family and friends.
A long-term resident at Bethanie's Wearne Cottesloe nursing home, Thelma was also joined by fellow residents and staff for a special afternoon tea.
Thelma has been living at the aged care facility for 16 years, where facility manager Janeen Karsten said she still enjoys walking with therapy staff three times a week and have friends and family visit daily.
Described by her peers as someone who is "quietly spoken, possesses a quick wit and a wicked sense of humour" the mother of three has lived through the governments of all but three Australian prime ministers and both world wars.
Born in Kalgoorlie in 1907, Thelma attended school in Subiaco and later Miss Parnell's School for Girls (later renamed St Hilda's). She enjoyed tennis and swimming and later dancing, gardening and sewing.
Thelma met her husband Colin on a blind date in the 1920s and they married in 1934 before his army posting to Port Hedland.
While Thelma is the second oldest person currently living in Australia and the oldest actually born in Australia. She has five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
