Ethel Telfer is now 101 years old. Miss Telfer, who celebrated her birthday on December 28, started to work
at
a paper company as an office helper in 1936. Born in Mount Lebanus, Trinityville, St. Thomas, in 1906, she lived in the district until age 20 when she moved to Kingston to continue her profession as a dressmaker. After some time, she started to work at The Gleaner at age 30 and remained there for 39 years. Dressed in a red-striped dress and hair neatly combed back in a bun, Ms. Telfer shared memories of her time at
the company. "I got along with every member of staff <,from the manager down to the one''s that cleaned," she said.
Strict but loving "I worked with Mr Michael DeCordova. He was the manager at my time. He (Mr DeCordova) wasn''t harsh. You could speak with him about anything and you''d get an answer," she added. "But he was a very prude man. You had to understand him to work with him, and I understood him so I got along with him," she said. Her Grandson, Horace Hale describes Miss Telfer as a strict but loving and kind person. "She was always there to make sure that I was all right," he said. When they visited Miss Telfer at her Norman Gardens residence in Kingston, Mark Ricketts who was also paying his great grandaunt a visit says though she appears to be healthy, Miss Telfer "is suffering from what
comes with age." " She has arthritis and her hearing goes and comes," he said.