Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Far North’s Dolly Urlich gets three 100th-birthday parties

Mike Dinsdale
By Mike Dinsdale
Editor. Northland Age·Northern Advocate·
27 Mar, 2024 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Long-time Far North resident Dolly Urlich (nee Covich) celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends in Grey Lynn, Auckland, this month.

Long-time Far North resident Dolly Urlich (nee Covich) celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends in Grey Lynn, Auckland, this month.

Be good, be kind and don’t stress the small things — those are the values that long-time Far North resident Dolly Urlich credits with helping her live to be 100.

Urlich (nee Covich) celebrated her 100th birthday with three events in Grey Lynn, Auckland, where she now lives, and youngest son Clem Urlich said all three events were wonderful ways to celebrate Dolly’s life, and she made it through all three and had a great time,” he said.

Clem said his mum’s positive attitude was what he believed had helped her live so long, but she had “good genes” in that respect, with some ancestors living well into their 100s.

“And one even lived to 112 back in the 19th century, so that’s a target for her. She’s an amazing woman and those attitudes were how she was brought up.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“She always taught us to be good, be kind and don’t stress the small stuff and that all boils down to the way she was brought up.”

Dolly tells the stories of when she was young and her father worked in the gumfields around Kaitāia.

“She was brought up at Wainui Junction (near Ahipara) near to where my grandfather (on Dad Ivan’s side) had a farm. She recalled walking up to the gumfields to take clean clothes and food to her father.

“She met Dad and they got together and later married.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Her sister, Phoebe, married one of Ivan’s brothers.

Clem said his mum had a long and happy life in the Far North, but, sadly, not everybody who wanted to could make it to her birthday celebrations in Auckland, and she wanted as many people as possible to know that she had a great time.

“She worked hard all her life and was always busy around the home. She didn’t smoke and didn’t drink much alcohol and she still lives in her own home — she’s just amazing really.”

Dolly and Ivan, who died about 40 years ago, had six children — Nina and Julie, Clem, Stephen, Jimmy and Michael, and she had numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many of whom were at her celebrations.

And the icing on the cake was a congratulatory card from King Charles III honouring her big day.


Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

07 Jul 02:00 AM
Northland Age

Eight Northland stores caught selling vapes to under-18s in compliance test

06 Jul 11:09 PM
Northland Age

Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

02 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

Far North talent shines as Smokefreerockquest returns to Kerikeri

07 Jul 02:00 AM

Local act Bandwith Riot won first place.

Eight Northland stores caught selling vapes to under-18s in compliance test

Eight Northland stores caught selling vapes to under-18s in compliance test

06 Jul 11:09 PM
Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

Far North news briefs: Foodbank closes, focus on vape harm, and kai resilience boost

02 Jul 05:00 PM
On The Up: Youth gym transforms lives, offers more than just exercise

On The Up: Youth gym transforms lives, offers more than just exercise

02 Jul 12:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP