Isle of Wight woman spends 100th birthday with 100-year-old husband

Mary Elizabeth Harry was born on July 2, 1923, in Doncaster to Tom and Mary Bentley, alongside her two elder brothers, Stan and Jack, and younger brother Frank, who are now all sadly deceased.

Tragedy struck the family in 1932 when Mary’s mum died of TB, and Tom remarried, with Mary’s stepmother being a kindly but not particularly maternal lady.

However, help was at hand in the guise of her Aunt Nellie, who took Mary under her wing, helping her to attend Doncaster High School for Girls and sponsoring Mary to start her pre-nursing training at Gringley-on-the-Hill in Lincolnshire.

From there, Mary moved to London in 1941 to start her full nurse training at The West London Hospital – now Hammersmith – where she qualified as a staff nurse, winning the Bronze Medal for her year.

Soon after, she became a junior night sister, and after six months, she started a midwifery course.

Through mutual friends, she met Jack (John William Harry), and they married on August 22, 1947, at St Olave’s Church in Mitcham, Surrey.

• Read more: Salute to Jack, World War 2 Royal Engineer who has turned 100

Mary and Jack together on Jack's 100th birthday in January (Image: Eden House Care Home)

Jack’s work as a structural engineer took them to Bognor Regis, and the pair bought their first house in the suburb of Aldwick in 1951,

Their first child, Andrew, was born on their second wedding anniversary in 1949 and was followed by Pete on October 7, 1951, and Rob on July 20, 1953.

Mary returned to work in the early 60s, teaching the pre-nursing course at several schools.

In 1974, after moving to Arundel, Mary returned to nursing at Arundel Cottage Hospital before retiring and deciding to relocate to Niton.

The couple’s first grandchild, Emma, was born in 1977, followed by Martin in 1979, Luke in 1983 and Davie in 1985.

They now consider themselves to be very fortunate, with a total of 11 great-grandchildren, five in Niton, six on the mainland and one in Santiago, Chile.

Last year, care and mobility issues eventually led Mary and Jack to move to Eden House Care Home in Totland Bay, where Jack celebrated his 100th birthday in January with a party for friends, staff and residents.