Newspaper Article 1997 – Going with 103-year flow

Going with 103-year flow

She may not be able to ride a horse like she used to but 103-year-old Harriet Lean can still remember the days as a child she threw a saddle over her favourite horse and rode to Argyll School.

She speaks fondly about the days she worked hard down on the Hawke’s Bay farm she shared with her late farmer husband, Alex, tending to her horses and milking cows.

They were good days recalled Mrs Lean, Eversley Home’s oldest resident, who was 103 yesterday.

Although she has failing vision, Mrs Lean is in remarkably good health. She still enjoys a game of housie or two and often helps other residents complete crosswords.

“Harriet is an inspiration to us all.

“She is the one we turn to cheer us up when we are feeling down,” said Eversley’s manager Lesley Cowan who remembers as a child waving out to Mrs Lean on her way to school.

“I never thought I would one day be caring for her. She is remarkable for 103,” Mrs Cowan said.

Mrs Lean has never deviated from her own philosophy on life….“ Going with the flow and taking everything in her stride.”

She has nine grandchildren, 23 great-grand children and three great-great-grandchildren.

Photo caption – At Mrs Lean’s 103rd birthday at Eversley Home yesterday were her great-great-grandchildren Rebecca Morresey, aged seven, and sister Courtney, six months, from Taranaki.