7 days ago
Wilmur Dyer turns 100: A life of resilience and achievement
Mother and her two daughters Barbara Engelbrecht, Wilmur Dyer and Pippa Dye Vally
Image: Boitumelo Pakkies
The Windermere Shopping Centre celebrated the 100th birthday of their longest buying customer, Wilmur Dyer, in style yesterday.
Dyer achieved her landmark birthday on Saturday (August 9), which is also on Women's Day.
Epitomising a rock, the centenarian looked cheerful during her birthday celebration hosted at the centre where she reminisced with a few close friends and family about her childhood days.
Taking her guests down memory lane, the Pietermaritzburg-born mother of three explained how her name came about.
As the daughter of Wifred and Murial Nisbett, she said the first three letters from her parents first names were merged to form Wilmur.
Birthday lady and her guest
Image: Boitumelo Pakkies
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Dyer recalled her fond memories of how she and her father would ride on a horse, to and from school.
'I had a wonderful life playing with all African children and riding horses. It was fun back then, I don't know how we got into the mess we're in.
"Apart from that, I had a wonderful husband who sadly died when I was 60. So for the past 40 years I have been on my own,' she said.
Dyer also shared about her proud honour of becoming first woman auctioneer selling houses, which she got into by coincidence, and stopped working at age 82 years due to various reasons.
Her youngest daughter, Pippa Dyer-Vally, said she was ecstatic to see her mother lived to a ripe old age.
Pippa said her mother was the most hardworking woman she had ever known.
'At her age my mother can literally do most of her things by herself," said the daughter.
Jocelyn Hallot, who manages the centre, said Dyer had been a long standing member in the community and has shopped at Windermere for as many years as she can remember.
Hallot told the publication that during the height of Covid-19 pandemic, they never thought she would survive at due to her fragile state.
'We at Windermere are committed to hosting a 100th birthday tea for her.
"Mrs Dyer is as sharp as a tack with a wicked sense of humour to boot. She was one of Durban's first ever female auctioneers, and a fleeting member of 'The Black Sash' movement."
Hallot said Dyer was her first ever centenarian friend whom she said was "engaging, delightfully entertaining and intellectually challenging ".
'She's a woman of substance with a firm resolve, which some may define as a tad stubborn, but nonetheless an absolute lady through and through."
"Wishing you (Dyer) peace, joy and love as you celebrate your 100th Birthday with family and loved ones,' Hallot wished upon the birthday girl.
Dyer worked in newspaper industry in her early days, then worked as a model before eventually becoming an estate agent for many years.
She married Ken Dyer in 1948. The couple had three children; Robin (76), Barbi (74) and Philippa (70).
Her late husband was a plastic surgeon who had an heart attack and died while playing a round of golf, that inspired their son to become a cardiologist.
DAILY NEWS
