Geelong’s Mercedes Crane spent her 100th birthday surrounded by loving family and friends this month.
The resident of TLC Aged Care’s The Belmont celebrated her special milestone on May 13 with her four children, their families that could be there, friends, and TLC staff.
Mercedes was born in Murrayville, Victoria, close to a six-hour drive from Geelong, where she grew up alongside her three brothers on their family farm.
She finished school in Year 8 and enjoyed working on the farm, later at the family butcher shop and, as a mother with young children, did many jobs, including hairdressing in her home. She would play tennis and lawn bowls in her free time and was a fine competitor.
Mercedes (Lehmann) and Ron Crane knew each other from a young age but became friends after sharing a desk in school. They married in 1944, raised four children together and moved to Geelong in 1963 for their children’s better educational opportunities.
Mercedes worked as a nurse’s aide at Geelong’s Grace McKellar Centre until her retirement in the late 1980s.
She continued to live in Herne Hill following the loss of her husband in 2005 until she moved to TLC Aged Care’s The Belmont in July 2022, where she has spent the last two years.
Mercedes now has six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren and celebrated her 100th birthday with more than 20 family and friends.
She received congratulations from the Prime Minister and a card from King Charles and Queen Camilla to mark a well-lived century.
The Geelong Lawn Bowls Association also congratulated Mercedes on her milestone and for being a long-time association member.
