Still a respected career woman at 100

OWN CORRESPONDENT

Weil may be a century old, but she still works and lives on her own in her own home, without a caregiver. Although she does have a char and a driver who work on a part-time basis, she cooks her own meals, manages her own affairs, and is, as she has always been, fiercely independent.

Her great-grandchildren call her the “Google Granny”, because she is fully computer literate, and writes all her stories in Word.

Her birthday celebrations included a lunch in her honour, organised and sponsored by Rolex, a family dinner on her actual birthday, a family Shabbos at granddaughter Sarah Berger’s home, and a high tea at a Sandton location on Sunday afternoon.

All her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there, hailing from South Africa, Australia and England, including her youngest great-grandson Isaac, who is 17 months old.

Weil was born on 14 March 1919 in Cape Town. She was the oldest child of Elias and Ella Stern. Elias went on to found a brush manufacturing company, which is still in the family and produces the Addis range of housewares.

Weil matriculated at 16 and attended the University of Cape Town, graduating from the Michaelis School of Fine Art with a degree in fine art.

In 1942, she was visiting a friend in Johannesburg when she was invited to a tennis party, where she noticed a young man who arrived late. His name was Aubrey Levy, and six months later, in 1943, they were married in the Gardens shul. Her oldest child, Andrew David, was born on her birthday in 1947.

After Levy passed away in 1959, Weil met her future husband, Alan Weil, whom she married in 1963. Together they became a family of five, with her son Andrew – now a top labour lawyer – and Alan’s two children, Pat and David.

Weil had always been a competent writer, and in the 1970s authored numerous radio scripts. At the same time, she worked as a personal assistant to David Gevisser of the wholesalers Moshal Gevisser, and in Engelhard Industries, when Gevisser became its CEO.

She “retired” at 60 and, through a chance conversation at the hairdresser, was offered a job on the then Diamond News and SA Jeweller, which later became the SA Jewellery News. Forty years later, she is still writing for the publication, having developed expertise in fine watches and jewellery.

Weil has become an icon in the industry, and she has a wide network of friends both in South Africa and abroad, resulting from her regular attendance of the trade shows in Italy and Switzerland.

“She is a truly amazing woman of courage, independence, dedication and ability,” says Andrew Levy. “In looking back at her life, she can be regarded as a truly modern and liberated woman, in an age when women were far less likely to have careers than they are today.”