A GREAT grandmother who met Sherpa Tensing whilst living in India celebrates her 109th birthday on July 30.
Mildred Evangeline Lester was born in Woodlands in Doncaster on that date in 1916 and now lives in Godolphin House Care Home in Helston.
She has travelled to many countries and enjoyed her life. She lived independently at St. Aubyns, Goldsithney until she was 105!
In 1940 she married her husband Albert Jepson, a constructional engineer who helped the war effort by working on the Mulberry Floating Harbour, built in Falmouth. He often had to work waist deep in water repairing the Mulberry.
Two years later she gave birth to her daughter June and has memories of hiding under the stairs with June on her lap during a bombing raid - they had tried to use the bomb shelter but someone had lost the keys.
Albert joined the Navy and Mildred went to live with her mother-in-law until the war ended.
The couple moved to India for eight years in 1950, with Albert working for the third biggest steelworks in India. Whilst in India, they met Sherpa Tenzing and his family.
On May 29, 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest, as part of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition.
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Mildred and Albert returned to England to run a pub, but she lost Albert in 1978.
She moved to Goldsithney, Cornwall in 1998 to be nearer her daughter June Calvert who sadly died in 2007. She has two grandchildren, Sam Corp and Jenny Calvert-Corp, and four great-grandchildren, Jaime, Laurie, Milly and Freddy.
Her family says she was a prolific knitter until arthritis claimed her hands and has made some fantastic creations for the family, especially her four great grandchildren when they were babies.
“Until her sight started to fail, she also had a passion for reading and would get through at least a book a week, said her granddaughter, Jenny.
“Her family wish to thank all the wonderful staff at the home for the amazing care and love they have shown Mildred since she has been with them.”
