AN Islander who celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday said regularly seeing friends and family is the key to a happy life.
Living up to that mantra, Helen McGugan was surrounded by those closest to her at a birthday bash at L’Horizon Hotel, which included a visit by Lieutenant Governor Jeremy Kyd, who presented her with a card from King Charles III, an afternoon tea and Scottish dancers.
Born on 14 January 1926 in Singapore, Mrs McGugan first came to Jersey in 1930 when her father, Arthur Baddeley, who was originally from Liverpool and was at one time acting consul for Siam, retired to the Island. Mr Baddeley and his wife, Eva, had another daughter Diana, who all lived in Jersey during the Occupation, at which time Helen attended JCG.
Mrs McGugan was married to her husband Arthur – known as Mac – for 70 years, before he passed away. The couple moved to Woking shortly after the Second World War staying there for around 28 years, before moving back to Jersey in 1975.
Arthur and Helen McGugan met when they were both students at Victoria College and Jersey College for Girls. The pair were married in a Congregational church in Sussex shortly after moving there on 21 June 1945.
The pair lived most of their lives in Grouville, where Mrs McGugan still lives independently, at a home that has been passed through generations of the family. The couple were Chefs Tenants, responsible for administering Grouville Common on behalf of the Crown.
As well as celebrating with her closest family yesterday, a much larger party, with around 80 guests, is due to take place tomorrow.
Mrs McGugan said this will be particularly special as some of friends and relatives have not been to Jersey for many years.
“I’ve got cousins coming over, who I see very infrequently” she said.
“I’m still okay with a stick walking around – I’ve got kind neighbours who cook and shop for me, so I don’t have to bother with much.”
Mrs McGugan still likes to keep herself busy through painting weekly classes with David Henley and takes part in yoga sessions on Zoom twice a week. Much of her social life is centred around St Columba’s church and she hosts a bible study group on Wednesday mornings.
She said that her best advice to living a happy life is to “keep on keeping on – whatever it is you’re doing.”
“If you’ve been doing a job, keep in touch with colleagues. If you have family, keep going to see them, and friends.
“Just in general, keep putting one foot in front of the other.”
She was joined at yesterday’s celebration by her eldest son Nigel and his wife Aida, her daughter Angela Riley and her husband David Bull, and her younger son Rob and his wife Sally. Her four grandchildren – Jessica, Laura, Ailsa and Harry – were also with her to mark the special day along with Jessica and Laura’s partners Alex Young and Jack Simpson.
Mrs McGugan’s daughter Angela revealed her mother’s love of travelling and spoke fondly of the camping holidays in France and Germany as a child.
She added: “More recently we have taken her to lots of exotic places – Kenya, Arizona, South America, India, South East Asia. Most notably she came on the 1997 Peking to Paris Classic Car rally with Dave and me in our 1965 black Rover P5. Nigel and Aida live in Michigan so she has visited them over the years.”
“In September 2021, she donated my father’s water meadow, opposite Grouville School to a charitable trust called Le Pré Arthur,” Angela said. “This is a marvellous community resource, for groups including children and disabled to visit and learn about nature. It was set up with Dr Maggie Esson as the driving force for conservation and habitat regeneration. Most of the work to turn it from a fallow meadow wasteland to a beautiful, fragile wildlife habitat has been done by dedicated volunteers.”
