Long life is in Edna’s genes - and she has always made the most of it

Edna Boughen attributes her long life to good genes; her grandfather lived to 99 and her mother to 96. But she also thinks it’s important not to smoke or drink too much, eat healthily and keep active. 

She played indoor croquet up until a few years ago, and was doing warm water exercises with ‘the fit frogs’ in Palmerston until she moved to PearI Supported Care in January. 

She has tried her hand at all sorts of crafts to keep her mind and hands active too, including knitting, crochet, painting and sewing, and she loved to cook. 

As her daughter Wendy said, “Anything she wanted to do, she would do.” 

Edna was born in a small suburb of Adelaide called Kings Park, at Petone Hospital, in 1924. 

She had a sister, Patricia, who was two years her senior and never married, so the family remained small. 

Edna left school to go to commercial college, learning shorthand, typing and bookkeeping, and by the age of 15 she was working in a factory as a secretary. 

She met her husband Peter in 1946 and they married in January 1947.

Their first daughter Cathryn arrived in 1948, signalling the start of Edna’s career as a stay at home mum, followed by Michael and Neil each two years apart. 

Their youngest daughter Wendy was born in 1960 - and Wendy said she definitely was not planned! 

Eventually, the family moved onto a chicken farm in Salisbury, SA, to breed chickens for meat and eggs. 

The farm was highly successful and the family enjoyed the working lifestyle of raising chickens. 

On one disastrous day the chicken food was contaminated, and they lost nearly all of their stock. 

Edna and Peter were forced to declare bankruptcy and with the four children they moved to a rented cottage in Redbanks, where Peter worked for the local farmers. 

When they had bounced back financially, the couple bought more land and bravely began raising chickens again while Peter also worked at Roseworthy Agricultural College as a farm hand and then a bus driver. 

When Wendy was 12 years old, Edna returned to paid part time work in the office of a real estate agent in Gawler. 

A few years later she secured the job of Secretary to the Secretary of the Board of Kaiser Stuhl Wines in Barossa Valley and kept the position until she retired. 

After selling the chicken farm and living in Gawler for a time, Edna and Peter decided to live out their caravanning dreams for a few years, then moved into a granny flat on Wendy’s property in Darwin. 

Peter passed away in 2013 but Edna continued to live there until she moved to Pearl Supported Care. Edna has a total of five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. 

Her family came together to celebrate her 100th birthday at the Trailer Boat Club Darwin, an event that Edna very much enjoyed. 

Edna’s story is one of strength and determination, and is an inspiration to many in the Pearl community. 

To read about more of the celebrated centenarians in the Southern Cross Care Community, click here.