Party, cake, cards and flowers at ‘great character’ Eva’s 100th birthday celebration

The relative of a famous celebrity hair stylist celebrated her 100th birthday with cards, cake and presents at a Wisbech care home.

Eva McAdam was given a card from Her Majesty The Queen at her party at Lyncroft Care Home on Wednesday, July 22.

“We all wish Eva a very Happy Birthday,” said home manager, Brenda Durrington.

“She’s a great character with some wonderful stories. We’ve had a fantastic day celebrating with her”.

Staff at Lyncroft Care Home organised an afternoon tea which Eva enjoyed with her friends at Lyncroft.

Chef Neil prepared a 100th Birthday cake with strawberries and cream and staff decorated the home with balloons and flowers.

A beautiful flower arrangement was donated by Natalya Shlyapina a local expert florist and home-baked treats arrived from Manor Farm Cakes and Bakes in Wisbech.

Eva grew up in London and lived above her family’s barber shop on Tower Bridge Road, in keeping with family tradition she later became a hairdresser herself and had her own salon.

Hairdressing is in her blood with one of her relatives being Raymond Bessone, also known as Mr Teasy-Weasy, a famously flamboyant British hairdresser from 1930 to 1960.

He styled the hair of many celebrities in his chain of luxurious hair-salons in the West End and he even trained Vidal Sassoon.

Eva puts her long-life down to a good Italian Neapolitan diet in her early years, however, aged 50 she discovered she had a hiatus hernia so had to change her diet to fresh boiled vegetables and chicken soup which she says has kept her going all these years.

Eva is a great animal lover and as a child had two Alsatians called Carlo and Rita and later two cats. She enjoys knitting, reading and cooking and is very artistic.

Eva’s husband passed away in 1994 aged seventy-two, they had one son, called Graeme who she says is her special achievement in life, “a wonderful human-being and very generous”.