Published: Thursday, 18th June, 2009 11:00am

Toasts to Marjorie on 100th birthday

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CHAMPAGNE corks popped in celebration to mark the 100th birthday of Marjorie Robertson.

The occasion was marked by a celebratory lunch thrown by friends and family last Saturday.

Marjorie"s son Donald told the Advertiser: 'Around 52 people came to the lunch. There were more originally, but we had to cut the numbers down or it would just have been too much for my mum.

'Friends came from all over Scotland, including local friends too.'

He added: 'There were relatives from America, Canada, England, Dublin and Edinburgh.'

Joining her on her big day were Donald and his two sons Colin, 43, and Duncan, 40, and Donald"s sister Joan, 64, and her two children Jane, 42, and Kenneth, 41, and Marjorie"s nine great-grandchildren Alex, Sophie, Emily, Aoife, Craig, Jane, Julie, Cameron and Nick who are aged between 16 and five.

The centenarian served as president of the Woman"s Guild in Shandon Church, where she was also one of the first lady elders, serving communion to the church-goers.

Charitable Marjorie also helped to organise the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for the Shandon and Garelochhead area, and served on the Red Cross"s committee. She was also president of Garelochhead bowling green, where she is a life member and ladies champion.

Marjorie, who was born Marjorie Loveless on June 13 1909 in Chard in Sommerset, moved with her family to Canada when she was five years old, celebrating her birthday on the Atlantic crossing.

By 1925, Marjorie got a job working with the Bank of Montreal and by 1935 had sailed back to Scotland to marry her husband, James Robertson, whom she met while he was holidaying in Canada.

The newlyweds later moved to Orkney where James helped to raise the German fleet during the war before moving to Faslane in 1937, where they stayed for 24 years. In 1961 Marjorie moved to Garelochhead where she lived until last year.

James died in 1974.