Kirkcaldy centenarian Cathie says her secret to long life is good friends

The independent woman still lives in her own flat in the town’s Ramsay Road where she does all her own shopping, cooking and washing.

And she says that her long life is down to having many good friends who look after her.

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Cathie, who found love with her late husband Tom at the tender age of 65, is also a lifelong member of Kirkcaldy Amateur Operatic Society – joining when she was 20 – and she hasn’t missed a single show since 1938.

The Society marked the occasion by presenting her with a special planter.

Cathie was born in Kirkcaldy in 1919 just after the end of WW1. She attended Kirkcaldy High Primary School then the High School, the only one in the town at the time.

After leaving school she worked in Barry, Ostlere and Shepherd linoleum factory as a shorthand typist and was there until it closed in 1963.

From there she went on to work at the Town House where she was until she retired in 1980.

Cathie cared for her mum, Christine Mills until she died, and they enjoyed many holidays in the north of Scotland.

Most of her social life centred around the church, Abbotsrood then Bethelfield and she still regularly attends Linktown church.

She met Tom through KAOS and gained a stepson George, who lives in Sussex.

And she says she has seen many changes in the town over the past century – not all for the better – particularly with the decline of its shops and factories.