BIOGRAPHY

Rosalie Wolpe was born in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, on 25 August 1909. She moved to Cape Town as a child, and spent the most of her life there. In the 1920s, she assisted her mother in running the Café de Luxe, a popular tearoom located next to His Majesty’s Theatre in Muizenberg. By the 1930s, her mother managed a boarding house called Chambers de Luxe, now known as The Tudor Inn, in Greenmarket Square, Cape Town. She spent her entire school career as a boarder at Springfield Convent in Wynberg. Each day, after taking the train from her home in Muizenberg to Wynberg, she and the other girls would board a horse-drawn cart for the final leg of the journey to school. During her school years, she also enjoyed playing cricket. In her earlier years, she was an avid mountaineer and met her late husband while climbing Table Mountain.

At some point she got married and had two children: David and Janet. During the 1950s and 1960s, she owned and operated her own grocery store, Belvedere Stores, in Claremont. She employed two men who delivered groceries to customers by bicycle, and orders could be placed over the phone. After closing her business in the late 1960s, she traveled to Japan. Her husband, Maurice, died in 1969.

Her grandmother lived to the age of 99, and her female cousins all reached their mid-90s. She never owned a car, preferring to walk wherever she needed to go. She credited her longevity to the consistent exercise she enjoyed throughout her life.

Around the age of 101, she moved to Highlands House Aged Residential Care in Vredehoek from another retirement home. At the age of 108, she had five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She had a fondness for dark chocolate, and her favorite indulgence was a chocolate muffin paired with a cappuccino. Her son David ensured she regularly enjoyed these treats. Another favorite pastime of hers was the Bingo afternoons at the facility, which she never missed and often excelled at. She also enjoyed reading the newspaper, and with her glasses on, she could still read with ease.

Rosalie Wolpe passed away in Vredehoek, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, on 30 December 2021, at the age of 112 years, 127 days.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* “Turning 108 ! just another birthday for Rosalie Wolpe” – Jewish Report, 31 August 2017

* “Cape Town mom turning 111, son hoping for a PPE-clad, physically-distanced visit” – News24, 6 August 2020

* “Cape Town woman turns 111, and surprised with physically-distanced tea party in care home” – News24, 27 August 2020

* “A tribute to Rosalie Wolpe, Highlands House’s oldest resident” – Cape Jewish Chronicle, 1 February 2022

GALLERY