Meet Phillip McDonald, an airforce veteran, husband, and great-great-grandfather who this month celebrated his 100th birthday.
The Eagleby centenarian cherishes his biweekly game of lawn bowls, a walk around his over-50s retirement village, and socialising with friends and neighbours.
But the secret to his long life, he says – other than no smoking or drinking – is a happy marriage to his late wife Joan.
“I had a happy marriage for 67 years,” Phillip, born and raised in Victoria, said.
“I put my long life down to a happy marriage.”
The pair met not long after Phillip left the airforce.
“I was doing nothing, and getting sick of doing nothing, so I went round to the tennis court and had a game of tennis, and I met this girl there.
“She was only 16, I was 21. I wanted to have a bit of fun before I got married and settled down, so I said I would come back in a couple of years’ time.”
Phillip stayed true to his word. So did Joan.
“A couple of years later, I went back to the tennis court and she was there waiting for me.”
Phillip and Joan married a few years later.
They had two children, Carolyn and Geoffrey.
Joan died on 22 November 2018.
Carloyn is now 71. Geoffrey died in 2020.
“It was a tough few years,” Phillip said.
When asked what his most fond memories were, Phillip said the time he spent in the airforce based in Darwin.
But his time there started a habit that almost got in the way of a long life.
“I started smoking during the airforce because everyone did,” Phillip said.
“When I turned 40 I said to Joan ‘I am not smoking anymore’… which I’m very pleased with, so I never had any smoking problems.”
When he turned 90, Phillip told Joan he wasn’t going to drink anymore either.
“Before that, I used to make my own home brew,” he said.
“So I gave up all alcohol and I haven’t had a drink since… which has helped me.”
Phillip was the youngest of three boys.
Both his brothers also served in the military.
His father was a farmer who was deployed twice in World War 1.
“He landed at Gallipoli and got hit in the head, so they took him over to England and he was in hospital for five months,” Phillip said.
“They discharged him, and a couple of months later they sent him to France.
“He was in a trench when a bomb exploded in the trench. He was unconsious for about 28 days.
“So they sent him over to England and cut his leg off.”
Phillip celebrated his birthday with around 250 family, friends and neighbours.
“I had never seen such a big crowd here… it was a really nice day,” he said.
He received dozens and dozens of letters and cards wishing him well.
He heard from the local mayor, state and federal politicians, the premier, the prime minister, and the King and Queen of the United Kingdom.
But Phillip was most proud of the letter he received from the Minister for Veterans Affairs Matt Keogh.
