A lady who moved countries for love after six weeks is celebrating her 100th birthday.
Olga Bradshaw was born in Germany on May 29, 1924, and grew up in Tübingen, where her father was a maths teacher at the university.
Olga was always very active, from playing tennis and the violin to swimming, cooking, baking, knitting and playing Scrabble.
She was studying chemistry at the university but her studies were interrupted with the start of World War II.
As a woman, Olga was forced to leave her studies and work in a factory, where she tested the coal that would later be used in the gas masks during the war.
She described the war times as “terrible” and “scary”, but something good always comes from something bad, as she met the man she was married for 68 years after the war.
Ron Bradshaw, a British student at a London university was studying German and in 1947 he moved to Tübingen, where he met Olga, who only lived a few streets away.
“We used to walk home together,” said Olga.
The couple got married in Germany in September 1947, only six weeks after getting to know each other and moved to North London.
Having German as her first language, learning French as a second and English as a third language, Olga had to learn the language quickly.
“When I had to go into the shop I had to rehearse it and then produce it,” she said.
They lived in a small flat together as a married couple, for Ron to finish his studies while Olga enjoying her married and housewife life.
She never played the violin again after moving to England, however, she continued to play tennis and still loves until this day to watch Wimbledon and snooker.
In 1956 they moved to Nottinghamshire and had two children, Noella and Michael Bradshaw.
The family moved to Retford, where Ron taught languages at Lound Hall.
In August 1967, they moved to Winthorpe, where they lived for over 50 years.
As a native German, Olga was encouraged by Ron to teach German at Newark College.
During her life, she loved gardening, sewing and dinghy sailing on the gravel pits in Hoveringham.
They used to own a caravan where they travelled all over from the UK to Germany.
Olga has four grandchildren and five great grandchildren, who are all musical-led and she said she loves hearing them play the piano, the cello and laughing with her.
The happy couple celebrated silver, gold, ruby, diamond and sapphire wedding anniversaries.
She was living by herself until she was 97 as Ron died in 2015, however, she moved in with her daughter Noella and her husband Giles to Hawton in November 2021.
She stayed in Winthorpe for years after her loved one died as she still had a lot of friends in the village, who often visit her in Hawton.
“Life is what you make of it,” said Olga as her advice for a happy life.
With surprising good health for the age of 100, Olga still enjoyed reading, doing jigsaws and seeing her friends to share some laughs and stories with.
For a woman who lived through war, moved countries for love, saw loved ones come and go and lived a full and vivid life, Olga reminds her younger days with a smile and admits that she still doesn’t know how she got to the age of 100.
Olga’s daughter Noella said: “It is an amazing achievement and we are very proud of her, she has looked after herself all her life and she deserves a happy old age and we are happy to facilitate it.
“We are fortunate that mum has a good memory, we can chat with her and she remembers things and I think it is a great privilege to look after somebody like that.”
Olga will be celebrating her 100th birthday with an afternoon tea with her close friends followed by a family lunch and hopefully a surprise postcard from King Charles III.
