Centenarian celebrates 110 years with large, loving family

Turning 100 is a great innings, but South African-born Adele Samuelson turned 110 on 1 October this year, which is truly remarkable. Samuelson attributes her longevity to sheer determination, having fun, never procrastinating, and always being surrounded by family.

And she was surrounded by family in Michmoret, Israel, for her birthday this year. She lives there with one of her two daughters, Ilana Gorfil, while her other daughter, Gail Drutman, lives in Netivot in the south of Israel.

“Without determination, I can promise you, you’ll get nowhere,” said Samuelson in a speech to her family on her 100th birthday 10 years ago. “I’ve had many disappointments in my life, but thank G-d, many, many blessings. The second thing is to have a happy family life. My sister, Phoebe’s, motto was, ‘Do it now!’ If you use this motto, suddenly your life becomes more organised. You don’t put things off. Finally, life isn’t always serious. Have fun!”

Gorfil says these three mottos still keep Samuelson going.

“It’s a blessing to be able to see and be with her every day,” she says. “I’ve learned so much from her about family. We have a wonderful, large family, which she has taught us all comes first.”

Samuelson was born in 1914 at the beginning of World War I, and was the eldest of seven children. She is the only surviving member of her immediate family.

She spent her early childhood in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, and then moved to Cape Town, where she would spend most of her life until finally making aliya in 1979.

She married Skea (Yehezkel Samuelson) in 1945 at the Rosettenville Shul, after meeting him on a hike at a Zionist youth camp. They went on to have two daughters, many grandchildren, and even more great-grandchildren, which they say number too many to count.

“We have four generations living under one roof,” says Gorfil. “She has her own little granny flat under our house. Her life is very quiet, very different from the life she grew up with, obviously, suited to her age. She’s surrounded by lots of loving family, lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And everyone comes to visit all the time.”

Gorfil says that although her family officially made aliya almost 50 years ago, they wanted to move to Israel in 1943 before they got married when the country was still Mandatory Palestine. They tried to get permits to move there, but only Samuelson was successful initially. So, she left first and Skea was meant to follow once his permit came through.

Gorfil says her mother and three young women from Durban travelled on a Polish ship named SS Kosciuszko, which was carrying Italian prisoners of war, that went via Egypt. Samuelson and these three women spent three weeks on board the ship in substandard conditions in order to live their Zionist dream. They had to disembark at Port Said in Egypt, and they travelled by boat and train to get to Haifa. She went on to spend a year on Kibbutz Kfar Blum, which was still being established.

“She spent a year in Israel, accumulating lots of exciting and interesting stories,” Gorfil says. “Unfortunately, my father couldn’t join her because his mother was ill, and she eventually had to go back to South Africa, and then they got married.”

The Samuelson couple made aliya following their two daughters, who moved to Israel in 1979. In Israel, Samuelson worked as the English secretary to the president of Tel Aviv University for 18 years and three presidents. She also did all the English work for the legal department of the university.

“My mother was always extremely hard-working,” Gorfil says. “She had to leave school early before her matriculation to help earn money for the family. She went to a college to learn shorthand, typing, and office work and that’s the work she did until she retired at the age of 84.”

Samuelson came back to South Africa as often as she could to visit her family. The last time she returned was to celebrate her late sister’s 98th birthday, more than 15 years ago.

Gorfil says her parents always loved to be in nature, and passed that love down through the generations. “My parents were campers,” she said. “As children, we used to go camping and hiking all the time together. There were no hotels in our childhood. That was a central part of her life – being out in nature and hiking.

“Climbing up Table Mountain was one of her favourite things to do,” she says.

Gorfil says her mother was the most amazing dressmaker, and loved to make dresses for herself and her children for any and every occasion.

Samuelson also loves to spend time in her garden in Michmoret, though she cannot work in it the same way she did before.

Gorfil says that her mother always emphasised the importance of family. “She taught me and my sister that family comes first,” she says. “That’s always been it. Family comes first – dedicated and devoted. Her whole family was like that, all the brothers and sisters. A big, warm family. That’s how we all grew up.”