90th Birthday

Unbelievably, Mrs. Edith Greenfield celebrated her 90th birthday on March 13, and there are few more active, intelligent, and lively women in the Isle of Man.
Mrs. Greenfield was in England for a family celebration and has, in fact, been away for three months, returning home to Port-e-Chee Avenue, Douglas, a week ago.

Although she has lived in Douglas since 1930, when her husband. T.C.Greenfield, was appointed water engineer to the Douglas Corporation, she has never forgotten her Welsh origins and was a founder-member of the local Welsh Society, remaining to this day an active member. She is delighted the new Bishop of Sodor and Man is a Welshman!

Edith Greenfield went away before Christmas to attend the wedding of grand-daughter Fenella Greenfield, and has spent time since with her second daughter Helen (Mrs. Tony Clover) in Old Portsmouth.

She stayed on for her 90th birthday when there was a large family gathering arranged for her at Newbury, where her daughter-in-law Pat (nee Corkill) lives following her widowhood two year’s ago on the death of Mrs. Greenfield’s only son David.

At her birthday luncheon party were widowed elder daughter Margaret (Mrs. Brian Love) who has lived at Glen Vine since 1979 with her son Michael from Yorkshire, but Margaret’s daughter Liz who now lives in Peel couldn’t be there.

There were grandchildren and great-grandchildren with her who are working in the London area; Rollo Greenfield, daughter Helen and her son David and his family from Oxford, John and Pamela Powell and their father Don (who are the family of Mrs. Greenfield’s youngest daughter Rose who died prematurely in 1974). A lifelong friend of the family, from the Isle of Man, Joan Batty (nee Hulton) joined the celebrations from Winchester.

The figure 9 has figured prominently in Mrs. Greenfield’s long and useful life – she was born in 1899, one of nine children. Her Edinburgh husband was one of nine and today she has nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren (five of them at this moment in America) who call her Gee-Gee.

No one has contributed more – and continues to do so – to the community life of the Isle of Man than Mrs. Greenfield. She was one of the first women J.P’s (and she’ll be attending the forthcoming magistrates dinner); she is a founder-member and past president of the Inner Wheel and still goes to meetings; she is an honorary vice-president of the Red Cross for whom she has worked constantly (and only gave up trolley service last year), remains a member of the Jane Crookall Maternity Wing Comforts Committee; is president of the Douglas branch of the British Legion Women’s Section, and continues to be a member of the Douglas Tennis Club but non-playing today!

She only relinquished her car two years ago. This very remarkable lady enjoys the Isle of Man Ladies Luncheon Club still, her bridge every week, enjoys the company of young people and it is no surprise to learn she received 90 birthday cards!

All Saints’ Church plays an important part in her life and the congregation there (who call her the Duchess of Douglas, I understand), remember her efforts to get the money to re-build the old tin church in the 1960’s.

There will be a warm welcome awaiting on Sunday morning.

Her husband died in 1960 but is remembered by the road named after him which leads to the College of Further Education.