A long-term Mandurah resident has celebrated a major milestone, with her 100th birthday recognised on Thursday.
Mabel (May) Chamberlain was surrounded by loved ones at Amana Living’s Wearne House in Mandurah for the special day.
May previously owned The Beach Store on Peel Street with her husband Harry.
The hardworking great-great grandmother was born in Subiaco in 1918. She went into service at a young age for the Manning family, owners of a dairy farm on the South Perth foreshore, before joining the Salvation Army as a teenager.
She married Harry in 1939 and they raised their two daughters, Karen and Lyn, in Como before moving to Riverton to run a poultry farm.
The family relocated to Mandurah in 1953 just as the Mandurah Bridge was built. They would open The Beach Store from 7am to 10pm so locals and holiday makers could get everything they needed, including a feed of prawns freshly caught near Dawesville.
May and Harry returned to Perth when their daughters were married and Harry worked for Royal Perth Hospital, before they moved back to Mandurah to retire. Harry sadly passed away in 1997 on the eve of his 81st birthday.
May is known for her cake decorating skills, teaching her daughters’ friends how to ice cake - including Sue Wells who went on to become a world cake judge. She loves anything crafty and is talented at sewing and crochet.
Her daughters attribute May’s long life to her love of family, great food and clean living.
May has four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren – with another one on the way.
