103 years of tragedy, triumph

Vera Ivanins celebrated at her home at Chesalon in Richmond with son Herb, family and friends.

Christine Gribble from Chesalon said: ‘‘Vera had a wonderful birthday’’.

‘‘Photos were taken with her family who came to visit.

‘‘She was given flowers and they brought in a lovely cake which was shared by all her friends here at the nursing home.’’

Mrs Ivanins was born in Riga, Latvia and had two sisters and four brothers.

Three of her brothers died fighting on the Russian front when Russia invaded Latvia.

She married George Ivanins in 1935 and they left Russian-occupied Latvia in the late 1930s, travelling from one refugee camp to the next.

Their only child, Herb, was in born in 1946 in Germany, and the family arrived in Australia in 1949.

‘‘My homeland was lost,’’ Mrs Ivanins told the Gazette.

‘‘Due to war, my family left empty-handed to not go back for a very long time.’’

The Ivanins saved enough to buy a block of land at Riverstone in the 1950s and build their home.

Their son Herb still lives there.

When asked what advice she would give young people, she said ‘‘minding your own business is very important’’.

‘‘Young people need to listen to their elders who have something to say, and to not use their own head too much.’’

Mrs Ivanins said the Hawkesbury was ‘‘completely different’’ from when her family first arrived with ‘‘so many changes’’.

Mrs Ivanins said when they came to the area ‘‘there was action and freedom, both very important, and the travel was different, but you still had that freedom’’. 

‘‘It was a very different way of life compared to today.’’

As well as her native tongue Mrs Ivanins knows Latin and can speak German, Russian and English.

She has two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Her husband died in 1997.

She said the staff at Anglicare Richmond were all ‘‘lovely people’’.