By Eleanor Wilson
Anna Sabatino celebrated her 105th birthday on Thursday 9 March surrounded by family and residents at Villa Maria Catholic Homes (VMCH) Berwick.
The centenarian was surrounded by the familiar company of her youngest daughter Susan, other residents, friends, volunteers and staff for cake and birthday wishes.
“It’s just amazing…it was a monumental thing when she made it to 100,” Susan said.
Mrs Sabatino was born to an Italian father and Maltese mother in Cairo, Egypt in 1918 and wedded husband Vittorio in 1936.
The couple went on to have four children, with three surviving to adulthood: Miralda, Robert and Susan.
The family struggled through World War II, where Vittorio was interned and the couple suffered the loss of a daughter aged six.
In 1956 they migrated to Melbourne by boat, initially settling in Brunswick, where Anna worked briefly at a dressmaker’s shop.
“Mum wanted to go to Italy, she said ‘we’re Italian, lets go to Italy’, but dad said ‘no no, I want a better future for the children’, so they chose Australia,” daughter Susan said.
The family made Berwick home 36 years ago, where they have stayed ever since.
Susan puts the great grandmother of five’s long life down to “a strong constitution”.
“She’s just got good genetics…her brother made it to 99 and one of her cousins was in her 90s,” Susan said.
“She never thought she’d live this long…after she got to about 80 she thought she wouldn’t be around for much longer, but here we are!”
Describing her beloved Mum as always being a warm, calm and loving presence in their lives, Susan said that Anna loved to cook and sew and look after her family.
“She liked knitting and sewing – they were her two things.
“She was always making clothes for me, she’d finish one thing and go ‘have you got any fabric?’… she just loved doing it.”
Anna moved into the care of VMCH Berwick following a fall last year.
