The matriarch of the Bezuidenhoudt clan, Agnes Adelaide Bezuidenhoudt, of Kenilworth, celebrated her 98th birthday on Friday September 20. She was born in Kimberley in 1921. She married her late husband, Bill, on January 3 1942 and they were married for 54 years before he died in 1996. She has five children, Arnold 77, Gerald 76, Beresford, 72, Glenda, 68, and her youngest daughter Mercia, 63. She has 15 grandchildren, 31 great grandchildren and four great great grandchildren. Mercia, who has been caring for her mother for the past 23 years, says in her mother’s younger days she was active in netball, hockey, tennis, swimming and ballroom dancing. She still enjoys going to dances and karaoke and does Brain Gym daily. “We wish her God’s richest blessings for the years that lie ahead,” she said.