Narrandera centenarian Marie Cahill has defied any age limits to recently celebrate her 106th birthday quietly with close family and friends.

Mrs Cahill is a person who has suffered adversity during her long life. In World War II when she had a husband Dally Wyatt at war and a baby daughter.

In her younger years she was very involved in sport, like horse riding and swimming.

She also had a great passion for travelling and exploring new places and has seen half the world, like Europe and Asia, as well as all around Australia, but chose to remain in Narrandera.

She is a war widow who has lived a life full of adventure, resilience and passion. There is a well-known saying, ‘Age is just a number’ and Marie Cahill has proved it to be true. Her life tells the story of a remarkable and inspiring woman who has repeatedly defied gender and age stereotypes.

Born in Broken Hill on 19 February 1920, Marie moved with her family to Narrandera when she was six years old and has lived here ever since.

The first chapter of Marie’s incredible life story is her horse riding days. When Marie was a young girl in Narrandera, she developed a deep love of horse riding and became quite good at it. As a teenager, Marie rode in a number of agricultural shows in the Riverina region, picking up accolades along the way.

Her first award came in October 1932. Marie placed second at the Narrandera Jubilee Show in the ‘Girl Rider Under 13 years’ category. A few years later, in 1935 when she was 15 years old, she again placed second but this time at the Griffith Show in the ‘Best Girl Rider Award’ in the open class.

That same year, Marie left school but continued to ride in district shows where she came either first or second in 10 events at the Narrandera Shows between 1935 and 1946.

Not long after World War II started, Marie became engaged to Narrandera local, William Arthur “Dally” Wyatt. They married that same year and a year later, in 1941, had their first and only child – a daughter named Ronda.

Like so many families of that generation, war separated them for a long time. Eighteen months after Ronda was born, in December 1942, Dally was called up for military service. He would be gone for much of the next three years and would go on to serve in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

It was also during this time that Marie continued to make a name for herself riding horses. During the war years and for a time afterward, Marie was asked to ride in local horse races. She was the only female jockey competing in those days, proving that women – and mothers – were capable of more than the societal expectations of the time.

Several years after Dally returned from war, at age 29, Marie started working at a local dress shop. She worked as an assistant to the dress maker, Flo Harris, making alterations to garments. She worked there on and off from 1949 to 1963.

Following her time in Mrs Harris’ dress shop, Marie started studying at the Narrandera Technical College in the mid-late 1960s. By now, Marie was in her mid-40s. She studied a number of courses part-time, including floral art and woodwork.

Other courses she undertook included leatherwork, landscape painting, bark painting, china painting, stretch sewing, heirloom sewing, patchwork and even public speaking.

Proving you can master new skills and knowledge at any age, Marie gained her teacher’s certificate in Brazilian Embroidery and during the 1980s, when she was in her 60s, she taught it at a local material shop in Narrandera.

Sadly, however, on 16 August 1980, just 10 days after his 72nd birthday, Marie’s husband Dally passed away in his sleep. A few years after Dally’s passing, Marie married Vince Cahill and together they started travelling around Australia and overseas. This was the start of many adventures for Marie.

Her first overseas holiday was around her 65th birthday. She travelled with Vince to America. The following year she travelled to Japan and Korea, as well as to England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy. They also toured NSW, Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.  

Unfortunately, in the years that followed, Vince’s health declined and he passed away in January 1993. In November that year, at age 73, Marie travelled through Europe with her niece, Annette. They visited Italy, France, Holland, Belgium and Germany – where she enjoyed a white Christmas with the family of Annette’s husband.

Her overseas adventures were many - Canada and America, Ohio, Uzbekistan, Korea, China, Vietnam, New Zealand and Laos.

In January 2003, for her upcoming 83rd birthday, Marie even climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.